The Ukrainian esports community casting scene is growing rapidly: views have increased by 310% over the past four years

Ukrainian-language community casting continues to strengthen its position in esports. While only a few years ago most viewers preferred official studio broadcasts, today an increasing number of fans follow matches with independent streamers who commentate tournaments in their own style.

Community casting is a format in which enthusiasts broadcast official esports matches with their own commentary, without a large studio, professional production crew, or television-style format. In recent years, this type of broadcast has experienced the fastest growth within the Ukrainian segment.

According to Esports Charts, total watch time for Ukrainian-language esports broadcasts increased nearly fivefold between 2022 and 2025, rising from 5.3 million to 25.4 million hours. During the same period, community casting watch time grew from 1 million to 4.1 million hours, representing a 310% increase.

Although official studios, primarily Maincast, still account for the majority of Ukrainian-language broadcasts, independent streamers have been steadily increasing their market share. Community casting accounted for around 7% of all views in 2022, while by 2025 that figure had exceeded 15%.

Esports Charts co-founder and CEO Artem Odintsov noted that the Ukrainian market is still far from reaching saturation.

“Despite the strong momentum, the Ukrainian market is still far from saturation. At leading international tournaments, including the League of Legends World Championship and Counter-Strike Major Championships, community casting often generates more than half of all watch hours. This demonstrates the significant potential for further growth of this segment in Ukraine.”

What is driving the popularity of community casting?

Analysts identify several key factors behind this growth.

First, following the start of the full-scale war, a significant portion of the Ukrainian audience turned away from Russian-language content, stimulating the development of Ukrainian-language broadcasts.

Second, the overall volume of content has increased substantially. While around 4,300 hours of Ukrainian-language esports broadcasts were produced in 2022, that figure grew to 11,600 hours by 2025. In addition to major Counter-Strike and Dota 2 tournaments, Ukrainian casters increasingly cover tier-2 events, qualifiers, and emerging esports titles.

The third factor is the unique format of community casting. Unlike official broadcasts, independent streamers can interact more closely with viewers, joke, discuss matches, and create the atmosphere of watching together.

Another important driver has been the involvement of popular Ukrainian streamers who previously had little connection to esports.

Lebiga and Ghostik are the leading faces of Ukrainian community casting.

One of the most notable examples is Mykhailo Lebiga, who regularly streams NAVI matches during the biggest Counter-Strike 2 tournaments. On several occasions, his broadcasts even attracted larger audiences than Maincast's official Ukrainian-language streams.

In 2025, Lebiga won the fan vote at the Stream Awards in the "Best CS2 Streamer" category, despite not traditionally specializing in the discipline. He also holds the record among Ukrainian community casters for peak concurrent viewership, with 76,400 viewers watching the ESL Pro League Season 23 final between NAVI and Aurora Gaming in March 2026.

Another key figure is Andrii "Ghostik" Kadyk, who has been the most popular Ukrainian-language Dota 2 streamer for several years. He regularly covers both major international tournaments and matches involving Ukrainian teams in qualification events.

From 2022 through mid-2026, Ghostik streamed more than 2,100 hours of esports content, the highest total among all Ukrainian community casters. In 2026, his contribution received further recognition when he became the head coach of Ukraine's Dota 2 national team for the Esports Nations Cup.

By the end of 2025, Ukrainian community casters had generated more than 4 million hours of watch time, with over 60% of that total coming from Lebiga and Ghostik.

Although they work in different formats, this duo currently defines the development of Ukrainian community casting: Lebiga goes live only for the biggest matches, attracting record audiences, while Ghostik streams almost every day, building a stable Dota 2 community.