SOOP

SOOP is a popular video streaming service located in South Korea, akin to Twitch.tv in the West. The service is popular for streaming of e-sports and video gaming, life-casting, including eating shows ("Mokbang"), and restreaming of Korean TV channels.

Many Starcraft Brood War ex-pro-gamers stream on SOOP, including Bisu, Sea, Killer and hero. Additionally, strong amateur players who are very popular on SOOP include Larva and Mong. A list of known SOOP Streamers streaming Brood War can be found in the list below.

SOOP offers several paid features as part of its serivce, including the "Balloon" donation. Viewers can choose to donate to streamers in a form of currency represented by balloons. Balloons can be exchanged to cash at a rate of about $0.07 per balloon, after deduction of SOOP fees. Balloons are commonly donated by to Streamers to express their appreciation. Streamers may receive balloons after entertaining matches or, in some instances, throughout the duration of their streaming, such as the case of very popular Streamers like Bisu. During their streams, it is common for ex-pro-gamers to participate in fan-sponsored show matches involving a best-of-three or best-of-five series with the winner receiving several hundred balloons. Although the amount of total balloon donations are not made public, Streamers do, on occasion, reveal their intake. For example, Shuttle received over 300,000 balloons (~$21,000) per month in late 2013.

SOOP streamers generally play Starcraft Brood War on the Fish Server against both amateurs and ex-pro-gamers.

SOOP streams are viewed through either the desktop or mobile streams. The desktop route involves download (freeware) and installation of the SOOP Player software (see picture of the software on the right). Currently, this software only supports Microsoft Windows using the Silverlight framework. It then interfaces with web browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. No account registration is required, nor is Korean identification required. The mobile route involves download and installation of the Afreea app in Google Play on Google Android devices.

The SOOP interface includes the video streaming screen on the left side, with a chat window administered by the Streamer and moderators appointed by the Streamers. Balloon gifts are shown in real-time in the chat window as donations are received. The right side of the interface offers the list of active streaming channels, organized by category. Advertisements are played every time a new stream is loaded, but can be bypassed as part of an SOOP paid feature.

SOOP is currently geared at the South Korean audience, so the website and player/app are offered only in the Korean language. Additionally, foreign audiences often experience lag issues with high latency, resulting in pauses during the stream. The mobile stream typically presents less lag issues to foreign audiences due to the compression and lowered bitrate of the video stream.

List of Known SOOP Usernames

Compiled from viewing and various sources:

SOOP Username	Player	Race	Actively Streaming (January 2015)	SOOP Page
1a2a3a	BCTV (caster/league organizer)	—	Yes
70jeontaekyu	Zeus		Yes
byhero	Hero, by.HerO		Yes
aghhi	Rock		Yes
aisiteru99	HiyA		Yes
alsd1323	mahell		Yes
andchild	Child		Yes
bht0205	Iris		Yes
brainzerg7	Calm		Yes
bs1369	force		Yes
bye1013	Mini		Yes
cantob	KDS (caster, league organizer)	—	Yes
casy	Casy		—
chassisle	he)jy		—
chobs0309	sKyHigh		Yes
cksdnddldhkd	Backho		—
cksgmldbs	Mong		Yes
comby4343	scat.horang2		Yes
cyskkscv	koala		—
dbsdydx	free		Yes
djwp0531	MinHo		—
dmsghdlekd	Kim Eun Ho		Yes
dongrae	dongrae		—
dpfgc3	Larva		Yes
duehdrjs2	Center		Yes
ehrflq2013	Kwanro		—
enjoyment	Olympus		Yes
fishcast	FishCast	—	Yes
gagopa0602	Jju (organizer/caster)	—	Yes
ghtjs3833	sSak		Yes
gksmfaowj	Sky		Yes
h78ert	Killer		Yes
hateliar	Lazy		Yes
hdy4546	MIsO		Yes
hiji0312	JSMTV	—	Yes
hoonykkk	Ample		Yes
idch0726	by.spire		—
intothesbenu	RainBOw		Yes
ioioiobb	By.Sun		Yes
isee1541	41TV (caster/league organizer)	—	Yes
jackpot	Saber		—
jaho9105	norajo		—
jk890202	Shuttle		Yes
jh3697	ZeLoT		—
jimeang	Starcue		Yes
jou1025	Pusan		Yes
julyzerg	July		Yes
jun10280	ZergMaN		—
jyh8610	Movie		Yes
kaho8	Olympus		Yes
kch89514	go.go		Yes
khm11903	Britney		Yes
killkg2	Bale		Yes
kimmyungwun	ZerO		Yes
kisszzang14	ErOs_LYH/rual.yoona		Yes
kmc6096	kkong		Yes
koreasbg	Stork		Yes
kuyol	910		—
kuyol	910		—
kwonkb07	ZergStyLe		Yes
limtaemook	mook		—
liveoov	choiahsin		—
lyh1004	LuCifer		Yes
malde	Just		—
minooli	M18M		Yes
minchul	Soulkey		Yes
mjy1123	sAviOr		Yes
mycou	JangBi		Yes
myunghwan	Great		—
nada11200	NaDa		Yes
nojaesang	Cola		Yes
nspzerg	HoGiL		Yes
onicle	onicle		—
onlyfast	Dove		—
onlysibar	Shinee		Yes
onstyles	autumn		—
organ333	PianO		Yes
orz	egg3996	—	—
palko1	Leta		Yes
patming912	perry		—
peros777	Mind		Yes
piroopirong	Hwasin		Yes
psj0436	Pure		Yes
psn1555	IcaruS		Yes
qkdydtn	YongSu		Yes
rfvtgb778	Sexy		Yes
rjsrkdgkwk12	beast		Yes
rkdehdwls112	Mio (organizer/caster)	—	Yes
rlatjdgus228	Last		Yes
rlatldgus	GuemChi		Yes
jaedong23	Jaedong		Yes
rlawogns019	Jaehoon		Yes
rlaxordyd	Bisu		Yes
rlekfu6	Hyuk		Yes
rngusdl	Kal		Yes
rnjsgurwls15	Noble		Yes
row6400	Perfectman		—
rudals5467	Horang2		-
sangwk	Midas		Yes
sblyh119	BoxeR		Yes
sereniss87	leto (2v2, 3v3 team games)	—	Yes
scv2610	kkong		Yes
scv6256	Light		-
sharpragu	Sharp		Yes
sogoodtt	Sonic (caster, league organizer)	—	Yes
sr629	LoveTV (caster, league organizer)	—	Yes
ssoov227	S2		—
starbell87	Shark		Yes
starno1728	깝도이 (fastest maps)		Yes
subeom12	Tyson		Yes
tearstt	Modesty		Yes
tjdwo0000	envy.bisu		—
tkdwh158	feat		—
tkfkdgo7887	cookie		—
tlaqndlf23	lastman		—
tmsh401	Snow		Yes
umcboy	jat.lotte	—	—
wlghks910903	hwan		—
wndussla654	sonkwon		—
wodnrdldia	BeSt		—
worud0608	Smile		—
y1026	Terror		Yes
Yesorbzzang111	Brave		—
yms91	Mercury		Yes
younggunz91	rapsodytoss		—
youngskh	Sea.KH		Yes
yuambo	Sea		Yes
yyy2222	jat.tv	—	Yes
zealotmaru	Air		-
zeusboy2714	Anytime		—
zlzl1514	TaMoo		Yes
zzzz2z	SSabiTV	—	—
tjdeosks	Action		Yes