Community Casting Accounted for 46.7% of Esports Watch Time

Community casting captured 46.7% of total watch time for esports titles that logged more than 10 million hours watched in the first half of 2026, according to industry estimates. The figure covers co-streams that run alongside or instead of official tournament broadcasts.

The mix of official and community viewing varied by game. Counter-Strike audiences were almost evenly split between official channels and independent co-streamers. League of Legends, Dota 2 and Rocket League saw co-casters draw larger shares in many events while official streams kept a substantial portion of viewers. Tournaments for Call of Duty, Fortnite, Apex Legends and Valorant routed nearly all watch time through creator streams rather than through official feeds. Major mobile esports-Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Arena of Valor and Battlegrounds Mobile India-retained audience concentration on official broadcasts.

Language markets showed distinct viewing habits. English-language feeds remained the largest single group and official English broadcasts held the majority of watch time. Indonesian, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Hindi broadcasts were dominated by official streams, particularly in mobile titles. Spanish, Turkish and German audiences tended to favor creator streams. Korean, Portuguese, Japanese and French markets used a hybrid model in which both official streams and independent creators attracted substantial numbers.

Viewing was concentrated among a relatively small set of creators. The top 15 co-streamers produced more than 216 million hours watched in H1 2026, equal to 27.9% of tracked community-stream watch time for the games in scope. Marc “Caedrel” Lamont led that group by a wide margin. League of Legends appeared most often among the top creators, with channels operating in multiple language markets. Counter-Strike’s community audience was split across several high-volume creators rather than dominated by a single channel. Platforms used by top co-streamers included Twitch, YouTube, SOOP and Naver’s HZZK.

Organizers, publishers and brands are tracking audience splits between official feeds and creator channels and are working with creators to reach viewers on community streams. Brands are partnering with top co-streamers to access audiences that do not tune into official broadcasts. The cross-platform presence of co-casting has led to creator partnerships appearing regularly in esports media plans.

Community casting accounted for nearly half of all watch time across the most-watched esports in H1 2026, with the degree of reliance on creator channels differing by game and language market.