CHZZK (치지직): what the platform is and how to stream on it

CHZZK (치지직, pronounced "chijijik") is a Korean streaming platform run by Naver and the main Twitch successor in South Korea. The open beta started on December 19, 2023, and the official launch was on May 9, 2024. To stream you need a Naver account: the stream key comes from the studio at studio.chzzk.naver.com, and OBS already lists CHZZK among its services (H.264, up to 1080p, up to 60 fps, up to 8000 kbps). Donations are made in a virtual currency called Cheese (치즈): the streamer gets 60% of a donation at the start and up to 80% at the top tiers. For a Russian-speaking streamer this is a niche platform: the audience is almost entirely Korean, the interface is in Korean, and buying Cheese and getting payouts both depend on Korean identity verification.

What CHZZK is and where it came from

On December 5, 2023, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced that the service was shutting down its business in Korea because of extremely high network costs. The last day was February 27, 2024, and from that date Korean streamers lost their income on Twitch. Even before the exit, Twitch had cut quality in Korea to 720p and disabled VODs, so streamers began moving early.

Naver, Korea's biggest search engine and internet group, launched CHZZK precisely for this migration. The timeline looks like this:

• December 5-8, 2023 - closed test at an internal employee League of Legends tournament;
• December 19, 2023 - open beta;
• February 19, 2024 - any user can stream, with no separate application for broadcasting rights;
• May 9, 2024 - official launch, together with clips and "mission" donations.

The interface was deliberately made to look like Twitch, and the subscriptions of viewers who moved over could be carried across: Twitch subscription tenure was credited on CHZZK. The platform works in the browser and in iOS and Android apps, and the language is Korean.

Audience and how CHZZK differs from SOOP

The main competitor is SOOP, formerly AfreecaTV. The company changed its legal name in March 2024, and on October 15, 2024 the platform began operating in Korea under the SOOP brand. The race between them has been almost level: in September 2024 CHZZK had 2.34 million monthly active users against 2.36 million for SOOP. By August 2026, according to Mobile Index, CHZZK pulled ahead in users - 3.71 million against 2.33 million - but SOOP is still ahead in total watch time (39.24 million hours against 34.16 million).

CHZZK's strength is the Naver ecosystem. Payment through Naver Pay, integration with Naver fan cafes, and the official channels of the LCK and the League of Legends World Championship. In summer 2026 Naver showed every match of the football World Cup exclusively among Korean online platforms: for the Korea vs Czechia match the peak reached 4.82 million concurrent viewers, including watch-alongs.

Registration: a Naver account and Korean verification

CHZZK has no separate account - you log in with a Naver ID. According to Naver's help pages, you can create an account with a foreign phone number as well: the sign-up check accepts a local number from another country. But many Naver features unlock only after identity verification (실명 인증). The main methods are a Korean mobile number registered in your name, or i-PIN. In June 2026 Naver added passport verification for people without a Korean number, but the only thing officially confirmed is that it enables reservations and payments in Naver Map. Naver has not said whether it works for Naver Pay and CHZZK.

What this means in practice:

• you can watch streams without verification;
• you cannot buy Cheese: it is paid for through Naver Pay, and topping up Naver Pay requires a verified identity;
• Naver pays streamers in won, withholding taxes and taking status into account (individual or business). We found no official payout rules for non-residents of Korea without a Korean bank account;
• when broadcasting was opened to everyone in February 2024, teenagers aged 14-19 were not included: Naver promised to let them stream with the consent of their legal guardians.

Do not go through verification under someone else's name or with "rented" Korean numbers: this violates Naver's rules, and a channel with earnings can be blocked at any moment.

How to start streaming on CHZZK

1. Log in to chzzk.naver.com with your Naver account and create a channel: name, avatar, description.
2. Open the streamer studio at studio.chzzk.naver.com, in the broadcast settings section (studio.chzzk.naver.com/setting). The stream key and the button to reset it are there.
3. In OBS go to Settings, then Stream, and choose the CHZZK service. It is not among the "popular" ones, so enable the full list of services. The server fills in by itself: rtmp://global-rtmp.lip2.navercorp.com:8080/relay.
4. Paste the key from the studio. Do not show it to anyone: with the key, anyone can broadcast on your channel.
5. In the studio set the stream title and category (a game or "Talk"), then click Start Streaming in OBS.

If you are setting up OBS for the first time, start with the basic OBS setup for streaming: scenes, sources, audio and load testing. Below is only what is specific to CHZZK.

OBS settings for CHZZK

The limits below come from the official CHZZK profile in OBS Studio. Naver does not publish its own help page with these numbers, and during the beta the platform ran on H.264 at 8000 kbps.

Note the keyframes: for CHZZK, OBS recommends 1 second rather than 2 as for Twitch and Kick, and no B-frames. This reduces latency. If you stream from Russia or the CIS, the server is in Korea, a long way away. Start at 6000 kbps and watch the dropped frames in the OBS stats: if they grow, lower the bitrate in steps of 1000 kbps.

Monetization: Cheese, subscriptions and streamer tiers

Cheese (치즈)

Cheese is the in-platform currency for donations, bought through Naver Pay. Since April 9, 2024, on the web 1000 Cheese costs 1100 won, so one Cheese is 1 won plus VAT. In the apps Cheese is noticeably more expensive because of App Store and Google Play fees: for example, 10,000 Cheese costs 15,800 won versus 11,000 in the browser. You can donate Cheese with a chat message, a video donation or a "mission" - a task for the streamer.

Streamer tiers and share of donations

From November 1, 2026, CHZZK moves from three tiers to four: "Challenger" is added between "Pro" and "Partner".

Challengers are promised compensation for content production costs: up to 10 million won per project and up to 30 million won per year, plus storage of stream recordings for a year. There are few Partners on the whole platform: in November 2024 there were 148 of them.

Subscriptions and ads

At launch a subscription cost 4900 won a month for the basic tier and 14,900 won for the extended one. According to Stream Hatchet analysts, subscriptions are split 70/30 in the streamer's favor at all tiers. There is also a share of ad revenue (newcomers do not get it) and merchandise sales through Naver Smart Store. Naver does not publish an official table of all payouts, so check the exact terms in your own studio.

The rules for multistreaming and third-party donation services also depend on the tier and have changed several times already. If you plan to broadcast on CHZZK and other platforms at the same time, check the current terms in the studio before you start.

Categories and platform culture

CHZZK was conceived as a gaming service, but its most-watched category is the same as on Twitch: talk streams (Talk). According to Stream Hatchet for 2025, League of Legends is second, followed by Lost Ark, Teamfight Tactics, Eternal Return, VALORANT and GTA V. There are many virtual streamers (VTubers): Naver has its own motion capture studio, Motion Stage.

A distinctive feature is watch-alongs (같이보기). A big streamer shows the official broadcast of the LCK, Worlds or football on their own channel with commentary, and such streams gather hundreds of thousands of viewers. CHZZK also has strict rules: the terms include a clause refusing a contract to people with serious criminal records, and moderation is handled by Naver's AI system Green-eye together with human moderators. After the scandals of 2024, several streamers lost their broadcasting rights.

Should a Russian-speaking streamer go to CHZZK

An honest answer: as your main platform - almost never. CHZZK has no international version and no Russian-language filter, and recommendations and search are built for Korean viewers. Your viewers from Russia and the CIS cannot buy Cheese without Korean verification, so you will not collect donations from your own audience there. Payouts to non-residents are not officially described.

It makes sense in three cases:

• you speak Korean or live in Korea and are ready to stream for Koreans in their prime time;
• your content is clear without language: music, drawing, speedruns, top-level esports;
• you collaborate with Korean streamers and want to be where their viewers are.

In all other cases Twitch, Kick, YouTube or VK Video Live are a better bet. A comparison of platforms and a checklist for choosing are in the article where to stream in 2027. And if you want to try the Korean audience without giving up your main channel, see how multistreaming on YouTube, Twitch and Kick works, and check it against the rules of your tier on CHZZK.

The hardest part of any new platform is the first streams at zero viewers: the channel does not get into recommendations, and real people walk past. If you do launch on a Korean platform, we have a dedicated service, CHZZK promotion: viewers and activity at the start, so the channel looks alive while you build your own audience.

Frequently asked questions

Can I register on CHZZK without a Korean phone number?

You can create a Naver account with a foreign number, and you can watch streams. But buying Cheese through Naver Pay requires identity verification, usually with a Korean number in your name or i-PIN. Naver does not officially describe how payouts work for streamers without Korean documents.

How much does Cheese cost and how much does the streamer get?

In the browser 1000 Cheese costs 1100 won, and in the apps it is more. The streamer gets 60% of a donation at the Rookie tier, 70% at Pro and Challenger, and 80% at Partner.

What bitrate should I use for CHZZK?

The maximum is 8000 kbps at 1080p and up to 60 fps, H.264 codec only, keyframes once per second, audio up to 192 kbps. If you stream from far away from Korea, start at 6000 kbps.

Where do I get the CHZZK stream key?

In the streamer studio: studio.chzzk.naver.com, the broadcast settings section. In OBS choose the CHZZK service from the full list: the server fills in automatically, and you only need to paste the key.

How does CHZZK differ from SOOP?

CHZZK belongs to Naver and is tied to its services, has more monthly users and exclusives like the 2026 football World Cup. SOOP has more total watch time, an international version, SOOP Global, and its own donation currency - Star Balloons.

When did Twitch leave Korea?

Twitch announced its exit on December 5, 2023 and shut down its Korean business on February 27, 2024. It was for this date that Naver opened broadcasting on CHZZK to everyone.