Welcome. Hello, everybody. I feel like I'm back at last year's call. Anyway, Welcome to the live conference of SOOP's Q4 2024 and annual earnings report. It's a great way to wrap up our 2024 and welcoming the New Year. Well, Happy New Year, everybody. I took a month off, and I came back just two days ago. You guys told me that you have high expectation of me, but I'm quite nervous. Well, that's what I say, but I will do my best to make this fun and constructive. All right, so great to be back in the studio, and I'm streamer Yeseul Lee. Welcome to the live conference on SOOP's Q4 2024 and annual earnings report.
This live conference is open to anyone who is interested in SOOP, but as this is related to earnings, only those who have registered in advance can ask questions in the chat room. Today, we have CSO Daniel Choi, Ellen Kim, Head of IR, and Isla Chan, IR Manager. Will you say hi to those who joined us this morning? We have a new face here. Hello. Can you introduce yourself?
Hello. My name is Daniel Choi. I'm the CSO of SOOP. Happy New Year, everyone.
Could you rate from 0- 10 your nervousness?
Before I started, I would say 10, maximum. Now that we started, and with your great introduction, my rating is now going down and down. At the end of the session, I will do my best that your rating will be 0.
How was your New Year celebration?
I didn't have anything special, but I went to see my mother and my family. I spent some time with my family.
Yes. That's what you do for the New Year celebration, right? We look forward to a fruitful conversation with you. Ellen, can you say hi?
Hello, I'm Ellen Kim. You know, this is a new format, and since we're going to cover last year, 2024, I'm really glad that we are back with great results from 2024. We will do our best to answer all your questions about last year, and also in our future plan. We will do our best to answer all your questions. Now that we have new CSO, you guys are okay with each other? No. We need some time to get accustomed to each other. But we prepared a lot.
Oh, yeah. You guys practiced? All right. That's nice. At La Casa Hotel, I had time to spend with Daniel last year, and we had a group dinner, and he seemed very relaxed. At the Streamer Awards, when he shouted, "Catch!" we could really feel that he's a fun guy, too. Not just relaxed, but he's a fun guy, so we would like to see that part of you. Isla, can you say hi?
Hello. Great to meet you. My name is Isla Chan. This is the first call for 2025, and I will do my best to answer your questions to the fullest as possible, and we anticipate your high engagement and participation. All right, so we are going to start the business strategy and the results call. All right. Now that we have our CSO joining the earnings presentation for the first time today, I will first present our 2024 business performance and financial results. Then the CSO will follow with the 2025 business strategy. We will have a Q&A session after all the presentations are complete.
Okay, then. Without further ado, let's get right into it. Take us away, Isla.
Let me present the business performance and financial results for Q4 and the full year of 2024. Let us begin. As a leader in the domestic live streaming industry, SOOP has played a key role in driving the structural growth of the market for years. In 2024, we revamped our domestic platform and launched the beta service for a new global platform, laying the groundwork for expanding beyond Korea. At the same time, we have continued developing new technologies, including AI, and introducing various features to support streamers' creative capabilities while enhancing user convenience and engagement.
For SOOP Korea, we are poised to expand our domestic market share while reinforcing our support programs for creators. We will adopt next-generation technologies to drive the growth of both our service and community. We'll further enhance core services such as channels, subscriptions, and search to improve overall service quality while strengthening our platform's business model through features like gifting and subscriptions. With these initiatives, we expect to achieve further growth while expanding our market share this year. Despite a sluggish advertising market last year, we drove growth by diversifying ad products. While we do not expect major shifts in the macroeconomic or advertising landscape this year, there is a stronger pipeline of new game releases and it should highlight SOOP's advertising strengths. At the same time, we will continue efforts to grow our ad business by launching platform ads on SOOP Global and expanding sales in non-gaming sectors.
SOOP Global remains in its early stages, prioritizing P2P tech and service reliability while gradually expanding content and solidifying its business model. To expand content, we are maintaining esports and gaming as core categories while scaling up social contents. We will actively support social content, starting with global simultaneous streaming by Korean entertainment streamers and expanding into original K entertainment content production. For gaming content, we secured exclusive operating rights for Valorant Challengers Thailand last year, the country's second-tier Valorant league, achieving strong results. This year, we secured a contract to expand production and broadcast across Southeast Asia. This is a remarkable achievement for an emerging platform like SOOP Global, demonstrating the value of SOOP KR's track record and our shared global vision. We will continue reaching out to partners on global content collaborations. SOOP Global's top priority at this stage is service stabilization and scaling up.
However, its ultimate business model centers on advertising and gifting. To this end, we are ensuring the fundamental operation of our business model to build a sustainable ecosystem, including simultaneous streaming by Korean streamers while shaping SOOP's unique gifting culture. Additionally, based on our previously announced shareholder return policy, the 2024 shareholder return fund is set at KRW 16 billion , equivalent to 14% of SOOP's two-year average FCF, a 75% increase from last year. This represents 16% of our 2024 net income, with a dividend of KRW 1,500 per share. Next, here are the financial results for Q4 and the full year of 2024. Q4 revenue reached KRW 117.6 billion , growing 7% QoQ and 17% YoY, driven by strong ad revenue growth. Q4 platform revenue was KRW 82.4 billion, showing a slight QoQ adjustment of -0.3% as the expanded community stabilized, but growing 20% YoY.
Full year 2024 cumulative revenue reached KRW 326.5 billion, up 26% YoY. Q4 ad revenue reached KRW 33.9 billion, up 29% QoQ and 13% YoY. Breaking it down, platform ad revenue grew 9% QoQ and 2% YoY, reflecting peak season effects. Branded contents surged 62% QoQ and 20% YoY, driven by increased demand for offline BTL ads. Lastly, other ad revenue declined 19% QoQ, but grew 2% YoY. 2024 yearly cumulative ad revenue totals KRW 98 billion, marking an 18% YoY increase. 2024 yearly revenue reached KRW 429.1 billion, achieving solid 23% YoY growth, driven by both platform and ad revenue expansion. Next, operating expenses. Q4 operating expenses totaled KRW 89 billion, up 3% QoQ and 20% YoY. The main QoQ increase was driven by higher event costs from G-Star participation and the year-end Streamer Awards, as well as a rise in advertising commission fees due to increased ad revenue.
Breaking down by cost category, paying charges, which is a variable cost, totaled KRW 13.4 billion, down 1% QoQ, but up 25% YoY. Advertising commissions reached KRW 19.9 billion, rising 63% QoQ and 34% YoY. Content production costs totaled KRW 2.7 billion, down 15% QoQ and 17% YoY due to reduced league and original content production. Here is the fixed cost breakdown. Employment costs increased to KRW 23.6 billion, up 4% QoQ and 17% YoY. Broadcasting and other commissions rose to KRW 9.2 billion, up 7% QoQ and 21% YoY. Streamer support expense decreased 6% QoQ to KRW 3 billion, but jumped 69% YoY due to increased contracts and support for the migrated streamers.
Internet circuit expense fell 14% QoQ to KRW 4.5 billion, but grew 24% YoY. Event expenses increased to KRW 3.5 billion, 1,108% increase QoQ and 207% increase YoY due to G-Star and the year-end awards. Other expenses dropped to KRW 3.5 billion, down 70% QoQ and 33% YoY as one of Q3 costs were removed. As for the annual operating expense, it totaled KRW 314.7 billion, up 22% YoY, primarily driven by higher costs from an increased head count and rising variable expenses linked to platform and advertising revenue growth, particularly in paying charges and advertising commissions. Now breaking down further by cost type. As for paying charge, which is variable cost in nature, platform revenue growth fueled section up by 38% YoY to record KRW 53.1 billion. The growth of advertising revenue pushed advertising commissions up by 43% YoY to record KRW 51 billion.
Employment costs, which are fixed costs, grew by 18% YoY to KRW 91.7 billion. Commissions for copyrights and others reached KRW 30.2 billion, up 20% YoY. Internet circuit expense due to the launch of SOOP Global and the increase in SOOP Korea's user engagement climbed 31% YoY to KRW 18.1 billion. Streamer support costs, reflecting the impact of streamer transfer agreement, surged 66% YoY to reach KRW 10.9 billion. Event expenses due to SOOP Korea's rebranding and G-Star participation increased 119% YoY to reach KRW 5 billion. Fourth quarter's operating profit came in at KRW 28.6 billion, up 20% QoQ and 8% YoY with an operating margin of 24.3%. Annual operating profit for year 2024 reached KRW 114.3 billion, up 27% YoY with an OPM of 26.7%. Q4's net income stood at KRW 22.7 billion, down 6% QoQ but up by 41% YoY.
Annual net income for 2024 was 99.1 billion KRW, an increase of 33% YOY. Lastly, please do refer to the annual financial statements for details on the financial positions. This concludes the presentation on business performance and financial results. Next, our CSO, Mr. Choi will present SOOP's 2025 business strategy.
Hello, everyone. SOOP's core business goals for 2025 will be briefed, and I do have presentation slides here for you. As you see, our core business goals for this year is focusing on the continued growth of the SOOP ecosystem in Korea and also our accelerating global business expansion. To achieve these objectives, we have identified three strategic priorities. One is the content sharing between SOOP Korea and Global, and second is continuous expansion of the B2B partnership, and the third is leveraging AI technology. Let's first talk about the content sharing.
This is not just about cross-platform of live broadcast by streamers from both SOOP Korea and SOOP Global. We're also talking about original content and partnership-based content that is not restricted by regional limitations. This is a great opportunity for the streamers abroad to expand their audience internationally and diversify revenue streams. For users, it broadens access to a variety of programs and the contents. For SOOP Global, this initiative provides users with easy access to high quality and premium Korean content and allows global streamers to learn best practice and user engagement from their Korean creators as well. Great know-hows can be shared. To facilitate this, SOOP has integrated several technology solutions, including AI-powered automatic live translation subtitles and chat translation, and easy simultaneous streaming setup tools through FreecShot.
Moving forward, we plan to extend these capabilities beyond SOOP's own platform, actively supporting not only SOOP Korea streamers, but also streamers from other platforms who seek global exposure. On the second priority, which is B2B partnership expansion. Beyond live streaming, SOOP has capitalized on our various assets, such as content production and e-commerce, to develop deep and wide business opportunities with our various partners. This year in particular, SOOP will further globalize our B2B partnerships. For example, we're already expanding our partnerships with gaming companies from Korea to broader APAC region, leveraging our Korean and Thai production teams already. A prime example of this is our partnership with Riot Games. As you know, we oversee content production across the entire Valorant esports ecosystem, including VCT Pacific, the top and premier tournament in Asia Pacific region, as well as VCT Challengers and other sub-leagues.
Additionally, we're actively negotiating partnership expansions for PUBG and EA Sports FC Online. These discussions go beyond simple content productions. We're already exploring profound collaborations with our partners, such as account integrations with game developers, which could open up new great opportunities for deeper engagement with our partners. SOOP's e-commerce model, which is called SOOP Store, has seen strong results through live commerce by connecting partners with streamers. We're currently exploring partnerships with professional e-sport teams to further integrate streaming with merchandise sales, leveraging their existing products already. On the AI. AI is a key area of our future-oriented strategy designed to enhance user convenience. We have SAVVY, which is already in operation, and we will soon be operating SOOPi, an AI video assistant for users. And then we also have SHARK, which is an AI-generated replay highlights, and SARSA, which is an AI streaming manager.
These tools will enhance both user experience and streamer convenience, while also opening new monetization opportunities for streamers. Ultimately, we are also preparing to introduce SOOMA, an AI-powered virtual streamer by integrating these technologies. Each platform under SOOP is driving forward with distinct priorities. First, on SOOP Korea, we will focus on community expansion and advertising business upgrade. To strengthen our new brand as SOOP, which we launched last year, we will actively invest in brand marketing campaigns this year in full swing. SOOP Global, which launched in mid-2024, is already gaining significant traction in Southeast Asia, attracting a stronger base for streamers and users. The top priority for SOOP Global for now is enhancing and expanding the platform service while we continue to recruit local streamers as part of our business strategy.
Additionally, simultaneous streaming, which has been receiving significant attention lately, has garnered strong interest from many Korean streamers, with many already preparing for integration. Through this, we aim to facilitate exchanges between Korean and local streamers, introducing K-streaming culture along with SOOP's strong business model. This will in turn help expand their communities while also creating greater revenue opportunities. Starting this year, SOOP is set for a major expansion and innovation in our live interactive services, and this is really in line with the community enhancement and giving opportunities and everyone who wish to. Through these efforts, we aim to reinforce our core value and also our businesses. These efforts are expected to drive sustained revenue growth while optimizing operational efficiency across domestic and international markets, targeting an operating profit margin in the mid-20% ranges.
Let us now talk about the recent FSS issue, which is a Financial Supervisory Service. It is true that FSS audit is currently underway. However, as a publicly traded company, audits are a routine procedure and we are fully cooperating with the authorities. To prevent any misunderstandings, though, which are inaccurate, we want to share some of the accurate information based on what we can disclose at this point of the time.
The game content advertising model that is under review at this point, was first introduced in 2019 as a new business initiative since then. Unlike traditional advertising businesses, SOOP operates a unique and integrated advertising model by leveraging its proprietary platform, accumulated data, and a three-way network connecting SOOP user and streamers. Utilizing this model, SOOP plans, executes, and assumes full responsibility for advertising campaigns, distinguishing it from any other conventional as businesses that we have seen in the past.
Given the nature of game brand contents advertising, we do collaborate with streamers. However, SOOP is not merely a facilitator, but we are a direct and primary contracting entity offering a full service advertising solution from concept, planning, to execution, monitoring and fulfillment. As such, SOOP takes full responsibilities for ad production, and we also bear the associated risks ensuring a comprehensive service for advertisers. While we cannot disclose specific details regarding the FSS audit period, we can confirm that SOOP's game content advertising business began in the second half of 2019, with a significant revenue impact from 2020 onward. From 2020 to 2024, the revenue from this particular segment accounted for only about 3%-4% of SOOP's total revenue.
Thus, the impact on our overall business remains small and there is therefore no motivation for SOOP to inflate revenue figures as we have neither pursued an IPO nor sought external investment based on revenue figures. This revenue stream has no material impact on our operating profit. Regarding some misleading media reports, we want to clarify that our external auditors have not disputed the classification of game content advertising at gross revenue. One of the big four accounting firms reviewed the transactions and confirmed that gross revenue recognition was appropriate. If editors or accounting firms had raised concerns then, we would have definitely adjusted our recognition method accordingly at the time.
As the FSS audit is still ongoing, we must exercise caution in disclosing further details. However, we remain fully committed to cooperating with the authorities and will provide updates once the review of this supervision is finalized. Thank you very much for your attention.
Okay, thank you, both of you, for the presentations. Now we are going to open up for the Q&A session. We are going to have to wait until our first question, so I am going to ask my question. Can I ask you a question?
Oh, yes, of course.
You will be using AI technology and SOOP is preparing for many programs. SAVVY was introduced at the awards, and I got my hands on it, and it was a lot of fun. So I have high expectation about that and other programs too. If we do the simulcast using the local server, will there be any delays? In terms of the communication, would that be okay?
We are going to perfect all the communication groundwork so that there is no problem like that. A lot of streamers already started simulcasting, and they are very much satisfied with it. Of course, in terms of the technical side, we have to keep on improving and try to perfect the technology. Still, the simple setup should be available, so that it will be easier and more convenient for the streamers to do that. I would love to do that, so I am there to take that.
There is one question and I can take that. Cha Minwoo from Goldman Sachs. Thank you so much for the opportunity to ask you a question. Recently, there is a concern over the cost on overseas expansion. What is your outlook on CapEx this year, and how much impact would that have on your P&L? The second question, in terms of overseas expansion, I am sure there are technical issues that you have to resolve to manage the overseas network cost. When will that be resolved? Can we expect that the full swing will start from there?
In terms of the CapEx or the cost on overseas expansion, I would like to comment on CapEx. Last year, our budget for CapEx, we have KRW 20 billion yearly. Of that, in 2024, the actual CapEx executed, that was KRW 16 billion. This year, it is going to be a little bit different because we have to make some investment in global and AI. Most of the CapEx will be executed for AI, like the view and everything. We used to have the budget of 20 billion, but it's going to rise for this year. We will keep you updated on that. We will keep on communicating with you. In terms of the network cost, well, it won't be any big rise in the CapEx, but in terms of the impact of the increase of CapEx on P&L, will be quite limited.
That's our expectation. Because CapEx will be recognized as a depreciation, and we're not going to make huge investment in AI from the very beginning. It's going to be consecutively recognized, so that amount will be recognized starting second half of this year. The impact will be limited. In terms of overseas expansion, like the network cost, well, we opened last May. That was recognized in the Q2 and Q3. But then now this cost will be recognized from Q1, so it could have a slight impact, but it's not going to be any big.
So can you comment on the network management and cost?
Well, like you said, for global platform, not just the media player, but the entire application and the site have to be equipped with a brand new technology, and that was our intention. So the P2P efficiency is not as effective as Korea's. But of course, technologically addressing the network cost is important. But it's a priority for us to revitalize and really boost the global platform by inviting many streamers and really having the solid ecosystem. So if you ask me, when we're going to make this expansion at full swing, we have already done that. And we are really putting all our efforts and preparations to make it as sophisticated as possible.
But to answer your question about when it will be all resolved, I can only say, be patient with us. But ever since we launched, The P2P front has advanced quite fast. So we're going to push it forward so that it will reach to the level of Korea's as soon as possible. All right. So, we have a very rosy picture on that. Next question.
Okay, from Daiwa Securities, Mr. Lee Jung-jin raised a question. So the Korean streamers are now allowed for simulcasting. Can you share initial performance result and some data?
Maybe I can answer that question. Okay. So the Korean streamers are also doing simulcasting on Global SOOP. I think it's received very well in the market, and we're very grateful for this kind of response. Now, on this particular topic of simulcasting, I think we're still devising and planning for the strategies and doing some testings on different stages and methods. And we are trying to find the most optimal way approaching the simulcasting.
Fortunately, the first round of testing garnered great results, and the streamers and users love this new approach, this new idea. Because of this kind of positive response, I am not sure if I can share any data at this point, but internally, the result is that, first of all, in terms of community building, it really is showing greatly positive signals. Also, we do offer many technological and technical supports to our streamers, and especially for this kind of subscription models on the platforms are very new thing for the global audiences. The global audience, therefore, love it. There is also the lives automatic translation given out, and the foreign users are very much satisfied with this kind of technological features. I think in the first quarter, many of the Korean streamers will integrate simulcasting into their programs.
We hope to see more diversified contents and many types of the simulcasting available. Of course, the donation business that we have and also a variety of contents will be our top priority to be introduced for the global audience. Thank you very much. We will take to the next question.
Oh Dong-wan from Samsung Securities. You are expanding social content on SOOP Global too. What criteria will you have on domestic streamers for simulcasting? What is your target on simulcasting ratio among domestic streamers?
Well, there is something I would like to emphasize. I just love these questions, and very sharp, to be honest with you. Wonderful questions. Thank you so much. On our SOOP Global, as you know, till last year, we focused on esports and we tried to expand our share and security partnerships. Of course, that is what we are going to continue to do this year also. Like you said, social content and our social streamers will be fostered. Our social streamers can go outward. There are two things I would like to talk about. The first one is expanding the community of Korean streamers outward to overseas, and the other one is providing diverse contents to local users. To foster local streamers' growth, we cannot just do that with something other than making sure that they communicate with each other and sharing know-how.
Well, there are so many initiatives that we would like to do, but there's a cost that's attached to that. We have to be cautious about that. Now, we are going to allow all the domestic streamers who want to do the simulcasting, we are going to allow them to do that as many as possible. I think there are some hundreds of people who are willing to do that. Not just allowing, but if there are any unique and fun contents, then they have our full support. We would love to work with our domestic streamers for the simulcasting.
In terms of the ratio, it's quite difficult to come up with any number right now, but what I can disclose right now is that as many as possible. We would love to have many domestic streamers going overseas and doing the simulcasting. Not just SOOP streamers, but streamers from other platforms can have our support too.
Wow, that is a wonderful service.
Yes. Even these streamers from outside our platform.
I think there's an additional question. Of course, we try to look at the performance, but MUV trend has always been very important for us. It's been around 5 million- 7 million, somewhere between, for a long time. Can somebody take that question?
Yes, I think I can. Maybe we can continue to read the question. From the management. Is this an important metric, or should we also look at other indexes and figures? Maybe you can also include in the fact sheet down the road if that other indexes are equally important to MUV and cetera. Okay, I think I can take that question. As for MUV, for a streaming business like ourselves, MUV always experiences ups and downs. I think it's a natural thing.
The buffer is, I think, somewhere around 1 million, I would assume. For content and sometimes timing to determine that 1 million range. Last year we had a large sports event, and we didn't have any large sports, and KBO did not happen last year. I think that probably impacted our MUV. Global esports events did take place, but in a very short duration, which also impacted our MUV.
Now, we do know this, and that's why we focus on other areas where we have stronger influence in our IP situations. Having said that, within our platform, we do know that there are variabilities, but there are many loyal users or core users, and I think that group actually increased, which is a greatly positive signal. DUV and PUV are equally important indexes, which are on a growing trend.
To add to that, as Mr. Choi mentioned just now, we say there are light users, and they are usually very much into sports like baseball. In 2024, we weren't that strong in that particular sector. But there are many other indexes. Of all traffic, of course, light users come and go. But if you're looking at the real authentic top users, they have been very strong and have been loyal to us. If you look at their engagement time per day, it's 3 hours, 30 minutes on average, daily users as of 2024. This figure is 17% increase compared to the year before, which is 2023. Also for paying user, this is really important index to understand the real engaged users.
It grew by 23%, and this is testament to our strong community that we've built over a period of time. of course, the overall traffic is important, and in order to increase that portion, we're making various efforts. please stay tuned to see what we can do further. for other metrics, and whether we want to include it in our fact sheet, we're actually looking to see if that's possible. we can maybe come back to see if we would like to add these metrics in the fact sheet. I say that because our traffic and other important metrics, and there's different ways of measuring it, the way we do it versus the way other companies traditionally do it. if you are to just include one metrics in the way that we measure it may add some confusion.
We're very, very cautious about this. we're going to look into all these potential issues and also benefits and the pros and cons and everything. again, we are exercising caution to adding any other metrics, but we'll see what we can do. Thank you.
Many questions. Wonderful. From Shinhan Investment. Recently, LOL pro gamers started simulcasting, and I saw the rise in Valorant viewership. How is the retention rate of those esports viewers? Also, would you confirm that our strategy of accumulating viewers by investing in contents and broadcasting rights is working? Even though it's still in the beginning stage, it'll be wonderful if you can share your thoughts.
Thank you so much for your wonderful question. Yeah. The League of Legends pro gamers simulcasting, yeah, that was already planned since last year. But then DDoS attack, some of those challenges was real to us, of course. This year, we communicated very closely with the gamers and we started the simulcasting. And the viewership is relatively low in comparison to Korea, but it is on the rise and it's quite meaningful. In terms of the retention, this is related to our support for gamers simulcasting. That's because not just the LOL or Valorant gamers and other games also-
The Valorant is widely viewed, and we have a lot of big viewership of Valorant. So such effort is put in so that we can retain our viewers. And I think the retention is there, of course, but to strengthen the retention rate, we're going to strengthen the original content of the streamers and for Korea it'll be death match or making the original content of the death match, and then a collaboration with the related streamers and the gamers will be part of our strategies. And accumulating viewers by investing in contents and broadcasting rights.
Well, if I understood you correctly, you want to know if we can confirm or if we keep track of this? Of course, we view this very positively, and we're so thankful that our partners, for example, Valorant, we have the exclusive rights in the Southeast Asia for Valorant. Of course, our loyal and engaged core users are there, very active. This is very positive to us, and the indicators show us there's growth, definitely. These element of death match or the pro gamers community is boosted then, and there's even further growth. Thank you so much.
Let's move on to the next question from Yu Inter from Citi. Comparing Korea versus Thai or other Southeast Asian countries, what's the regulation like for social entertainment contents, and also, what's the sentiment amongst the consumers or users?
Okay, sorry for the delay. Maybe I can take that question. Southeast Asian cultures is what we generally refer to. I lived in one of the countries there myself. Again, I want to be cautious because each country has a different regulatory environment. We from Korea believe that it's one block, but it's not something that we can just inclusively say that these countries are the same. I will say, in general, the regulatory environment is less strict than that is in Korea. We can take full advantage of that, and we are actually doing that. As for the consumer sentiment, I don't know how to easily make a comparison or contrast. For esports users in general, they love contents, they engage, and that pattern remains the same across those countries. As for social contents consumers, I think they also show similar patterns.
However, the format or type of contents have been different. What I mean is, let me give an example. If you look at the K social streamers, I know that they're going to be very successful for sure, because if you look at other social contents in other countries, they're very simple and they're not that creative, if you know what I mean. Korean streamers, on the other hand, work so hard and they put a lot of efforts to be more creative, and when they are simulcasted, users find it very engaging. Some streamers, of course, the Thai or other countries, those streamers are already copying or in a way going very similar with the Korean simulcasts. I think the sentiment, therefore, is same across those countries. These Southeast Asian cultures, especially Thai in this case, are very well accepting our cultural elements.
maybe when it comes to regulatory, it is sure that Southeast Asian countries in general have less strict environment, and this can, when used very well, help our business stabilize and take roots in that Southeast Asian block. When you say social entertainment contents, we call it gem, not the star balloons. if there's a gem in Thai, because it's global simulcasting, sometimes German users are giving those gems, and there's a little bit of a competition going on amongst users of different countries. here in SOOP Korea, it was competition amongst the Korean users, but in a global platform, it's really fun to see the gems coming from Thailand and also from Germany. there's this cross-country competitions, which is super fun to watch.
Great. All right. I'll maybe check out to see how that's going out. And yeah, I think our simulcasting in different countries are working very well. I just have a question related to this. which particular country or region is showing great results in particular?
Yeah. I think one of the follow-up questions are actually touching upon this, so maybe I can also answer that question. I guess our hub, in a way, is Thailand, in Southeast Asia, and we had FPS Thailand, which is a company that we've acquired for content production capabilities. I would say that as of now, in terms of the scale of the business, streaming contents or the users, Thailand does have the number one. Now, as we're expanding to the Southeast Asian nations with our very exclusive contents, we're also looking at Taiwan and also Indonesia. Especially for Taiwan, we had a previous AfreecaTV platform, and we already had quite a lot of fans in Taiwan before we changed to SOOP. with the addition of further collaboration with the social contents, I think Taiwan can also see great success just as good as Thailand.
Okay, great. Okay, more questions. Yeah, I see that there was one question that overlaps. Mr. Kim Dong Jun from CLSA. I'm rooting for SOOP Global that provides opportunities to domestic streamers to go abroad. Could you share with us the target milestone or timeline of simulcasting in detail? For example, targeting 500 streamers by H2 this year.
Right now, there are still not many streamers that do simulcast, so the fun atmosphere in the show when it features that streamer kind of dissipates without that streamer. We'd love to see more global viewers enjoy Korean streamers continuously.
And then, yeah, he added the question that I already asked.
Okay. I think the third question has been answered. I'm going to answer the first two. Yeah, thank you so much for rooting for us, for the Global SOOP. We are putting so much effort into it. We're very proud. In terms of the simulcast milestone or timeline, we can't force anyone to do anything, you know what I mean? It's not something that we can plan for it. What I can promise is that within Q1, we are striving so that a meaningful number of streamers will participate in this. We don't have much time left, but we are certain that we can achieve that.
We have strategies in set. Through such meaningful effects from the simulcasting of those representative streamers, there will be more streamers who come on board. That's because when we explain to the streamers about the simulcast to overseas, is that we find out that the streamers didn't know about this, and then sometimes they have misinformation. Because technologically, people don't really know about how easy it is. Just click on the FreecShot and that's the simulcast, essentially. They were really surprised. You get the gem donation and subscriptions happen through simulcast, and streamers are loving that. Once this really takes root, then even more streamers will come on board and they will enjoy the benefits.
Oh, so you're saying that there are not many streamers who do simulcast in the show? Oh, so when the streamer, during the off time, you're saying that fun kind of dissipates.
Okay. Well, this simulcast is like initial phase and like a test bed phase. We do have more streamers who want to try this out. Once this is at full swing, then it's going to be streamed with no breaks. What's striking is that Korean streamers' streaming time is longer than overseas streamers. That is something that we can anticipate some benefits from.
Okay, next question from Shin Eun Jung of DB Financial Investment. Paying user of the foreign traffic, how is that going? Is it a big amount of gem from small amount of numbers? Also for AI functions like SOOPi and SARSA, it looks more on the convenience. You mentioned it's a new business model, briefly. Can you tell us if you're looking at the monetization model from the AI technology?
Let me take the first question. Yes, it's a very short time that we've only launched simulcasting for a very short time. It's only, in a way, a testing phase, if you will. From what we see, simply put, the portion of the paying user from the foreign traffic is higher than we had expected. Now, you do know that the foreign users are very used to subscription model. They're optimized for this. I don't know if I can say optimized. I guess they're familiar with the subscription model. They do still use that function. Now, what we wish.
To see is this, the gem, which is the equivalent of the star balloon, which is a gift economy. That system is working for sure in other countries, and that is a great signal. I don't think it's going to be a one-off kind of thing. The ecosystem of the gifting economy that we mentioned, like I mentioned, the competition from Germany, from Taiwan, of giving more gifts away. I think looking at what we have seen so far in such a short period of time, it is working very well.
I can take the second question on AI. I think you're right in some ways. The products that we mentioned are not launched just yet. Once they are launched, we need to see how that works and how that can be incorporated into the business model. A good example in point is, I've shared with you five offerings of AI. One that's already offered is SAVVY, and it's the basically video creating function, and it enhances convenience, like for example, literally the video generation, but also it can be made into a business model of an advertising revenue stream.
We are working on this to make it into a monetization model. And of course, we need to have discussions in early stages, but we need to wait to see what the products will be and the early adopters, if you will, the streamers, and we need to see what we can do with them and see if it'll have an impact to our business model. So I guess, we need to see the products first. They need to be launched in the market and then see how that impacts the convenience.
Once we see that, we need to then finally think about whether to make it into a business model or not. And the other four AI offerings that I've shared with you, which aren't in operation yet, we're also of course looking to see incorporation with the business model. But at this point, I don't think I can share any details just yet. We need to, again, wait for each one of those AI offerings to be launched, and then we can have a bigger grasp of this idea to see whether it can impact our stream businesses and the streaming businesses.
Okay, thank you very much. SAVVY, which is one of the AI functions of SOOP, I've used it myself. And I found myself dancing with it because it's a video balloon. I don't exactly know the dance moves, but somehow I was made into a video which featured me dancing virtually. I don't even know how to make that move. But anyways, it was very interesting, and I hope to see more coming out of this.
Okay. I don't think there's any further questions. We can wrap up. We had a storm of questions. It was wonderful. Thank you so much for your participation. So how was it for you?
Oh, starting with me?
Well. Oh, we have one question. Okay. Before we say goodbye, there's one last question from Kim Dong Jun. It says, "Hold on, hold on." Okay. What is the barrier to the streamers if they are reluctant to come on board on the simulcast ? Okay. So I'm answering the question, and I'm going to say a little bit about how I felt today.
Okay. This is something clear. especially when Twitch closed its business in Korea, we saw that in live streaming business, there is definitely separation of Korean live streaming from global live streaming. I think streamers really feel that because community is the basis of their activity and basis of their business, essentially. they have given us a lot of feedback, so we understood where that voice is coming from, not just the streamers themselves.
Of course, the streamers, I would say some streamers, like the professional game team, because there are some teams who put more value on overseas fans. it's very important for them to be given the opportunity to go abroad like this. if you look at our slide, it says "SOOP ecosystem and global expansion." That's because we see that need coming from the streamers. that's our keyword. I don't know if I answered your question. Well, you're a streamer yourself, so what makes you feel reluctant?
No, I'm not reluctant at all. I would love to do the simulcast . I have the account, and all I should do is just start it. FreecShot was used. I've been using that ever since I started streaming, so it's not difficult. I'm going to use it, and I would love to Give you feedback. my feedback will be quite long. Is that okay?
Yes, of course.
Daniel, what is your rating in terms of nervousness from zero to 10? You started from 10, but now?
I'm a really bad rater. I would say five.
Okay. Still you're half nervous. All right. Well, that's okay. Ellen, how would you rate him?
I would give him eight out of 10 in terms of performance.
Oh, you know how to serve your boss. All right.
Yeah, you guys can leave us a question while we have this conversation. last year we launched the SOOP, and we were so busy, and we have been running and running, and sprinting and sprinting. that doesn't mean that our preparation was not in vain. All the results, the fruits have been collected this year and we're going to do that this year also step by step. we'll be able to make judgment on some of the trials and errors and the good and bad of our decisions. we are here to communicate with you. thank you so much for rooting for us last year. it's quite snowy outside, so be careful, be safe, and hope you have New Year.
Maybe I can also have a few last words. First of all, to the question that was raised earlier, Mr. Kim Dong Jun here, I think his intention behind of the question is not necessarily about what we answered, but it's about any reasons to hesitate. I think that may be the hidden intention of his question. if I can maybe elaborate on that part. it's not about hesitant or being worried. It's just about unknown. It's an unknown and uncharted territory. global simulcasting was something that had not been thought about by many of the streamers. we're knocking on the door and opening up this new opportunity. Are you willing to get on board? When a question like that is raised, most of the streamers have really shown their positive reaction to this.
Again, it's an uncharted territory, and it's not about being negative or having concerns, it's just about not knowing where they're getting into. some streamers are though, are saying, "I don't need this simulcasting on a global stage." Of course, there are people like that. what I mentioned already, I think when it becomes more active, a lot more streamers will follow suit. I think maybe this will be a better answer. I probably didn't understand the question very well in my first time, so I wanted to elaborate on that. just my few last words before we wrap up. I don't know how I appear, but I'm super nervous even now. maybe because of being nervous, I might have not been very good in answering, or I might have given a less polished answer.
I hope that you be kind enough to understand that. next time around, if I appear on this stage again, I will do better, more thorough preparations in advance. Thank you.
Thank you very much. How about you, Isla?
Yes. There have been the investors who've been with us for a very long time, and they're always saying, "You're doing a very good job with the business." The question more was evolving really about how to enhance and broaden the community. I think that question had been answered to today's call, and I hope that our business models and our business plans actually for this year were enough to satisfy your questions. As mentioned by two of them here, we do have great plans, and it's about how we execute them right. I hope to be able to come back with greater results next time.
Yeah, Mr. Choi said he was very nervous, I feel like a very young kid amongst experts. I'm always nervous. Now, 2024 was a great year, and I hope to see even greater results this year around. Okay. This wraps up our earnings call. Thank you all very much for tuning in. Thank you. Bye-bye.