On July 29, Twitch began testing peer-to-peer (P2P) technology as a method for delivering source quality streams in South Korea. The Amazon-owned streaming platform cited an increase in the cost of its operations in Korea as the reason for this change.
The change to P2P will only affect source quality streams, meaning Korean viewers will have to opt in to it in order to watch videos in 1080p on Twitch. This technology uses computing power from viewers' devices to provide a Full HD (High-Definition) quality viewing experience.
Drawbacks of Twitch's P2P technology
There are expected to be drawbacks with P2P. Aside from increased latency issues, there are potential privacy issues as well since P2P will require the IP addresses of all participants to be made available to each other, which could increase the risk of cyberattacks. In its FAQ, the streaming platform suggested that viewers with privacy concerns should switch to watching in 720p, saying:
"It may be possible for a highly motivated and technically proficient person to discover participants’ IP addresses, which could potentially be used to approximate location. Viewers who have privacy concerns with P2P can watch streams in 720p to avoid any IP sharing risk."
Twitch testing peer-to-peer technology in Korea
Twitch decided to move forward with testing P2P technology for Full HD video streaming in South Korea and rolled out the test with partnered streamers on July 29.
The solution to rising expenses of the platform's operations in the country was proposed as a compromise between cutting costs and providing Korean viewers with the same HD stream quality they have been receiving. It was also stated that this approach is unique to the Korean market:
"Due to the unique and associated rising costs of operating in Korea, we must work with the community to find a solution that enables us to continue to operate and still deliver the best experience for the community."
The decision to switch to P2P has been criticized, and critics have pointed out that this move is essentially sacrificing user experience and privacy to save the platform money.
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Literally described as a cost-cutting measure in the FAQ. https://t.co/Ku4Yk59HZi
While viewing content in high quality is a satisfying experience, most people likely wouldn't jeopardize their privacy for it. It remains to be seen if these changes will are permanently.
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