Esports Charts to collect viewership data from SOOP

Esports viewership platform Esports Charts has added new live-streaming platform SOOP to its list of esports data sources.

The new South Korea-based platform, created by the team behind popular Korean live-streaming service AfreecaTV, launched globally earlier this month.

Despite its recent global launch, SOOP has already hosted broadcasts from a number of esports events, including the Pacific and EMEA VALORANT Champions Tour. It has also partnered with developer Riot Games to exclusively produce and broadcast VALORANT Challengers Thailand. As a result of the deal, esports events broadcast on SOOP will have its viewership data added to the Esports Charts platform. Alongside SOOP, Esports Charts records data from streaming platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, Afreeca TV and TikTok.

SOOP recently announced partnerships with legendary League of Legends player Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok and Korean esports organisation DRX prior to its launch. The platform boasts unique features, including the ability for creators to host multiple channels under one account and an integrated streamer avatar creator. SOOP also aims to add real-time live translation by the end of the month.

The launch of SOOP came a number of months after Amazon-owned live-streaming platform Twitch shut down in South Korea in February and subsequently earned a 435m won (~£257,000) fine for suspending its video-on-demand service in the country.

On the new addition of SOOP statistics, Viktor Proniakin, Project Manager at Esports Charts, commented: “We are excited to expand our range of platforms that enable us to provide the most accurate data on esports tournament viewership. SOOP has just launched, but its potential is already evident with Valorant tournaments. More platforms mean more opportunities for viewers, benefiting the entire industry.”