The stereotype that esports is entertainment exclusively for teenagers is gradually becoming outdated. New analytics data from Maincast, a studio part of businessman Maksym Krippa’s ARS Capital holding company, show that young adults make up the core audience for Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 tournaments.
Stream Charts’ data shows that the largest age group among viewers of both disciplines is people aged 25 to 34. For Dota 2, this group accounts for 64.7% of the broadcast audience, while among Counter-Strike 2 fans, its share is 54.7%.
When considering a broader age range, the vast majority of esports stream viewers fall into the 18–34 age group. This group accounts for 75% of the Dota 2 audience and 78% of the CS2 audience.
The esports audience is gradually growing
At the same time, the esports audience is gradually expanding. More viewers from older age groups are joining the ranks: people aged 35–44 make up 21.7% of the Dota 2 audience and 16.5% of Counter-Strike 2 viewers. The share of fans over 45 remains small for now—less than 4%—but their very presence demonstrates that interest in esports extends beyond the youth audience.
Maincast attributes these changes to the natural evolution of the industry. The generation that was introduced to esports more than ten years ago has not left the scene—on the contrary, these viewers continue to follow tournaments now that they are adults.
“We are observing a natural process of the industry maturing. People who started watching esports 10–15 years ago are now young professionals, but they remain an active part of the audience. This demonstrates the market’s maturity. Esports is gradually transitioning from a niche digital hobby to a full-fledged segment of the global entertainment industry,” noted Maksym Krippa, CEO of the holding company.
Viewing figures also speak to the popularity of esports in Ukraine. According to the analytics platform Stream Charts, Counter-Strike streams rank among the most popular categories on the Ukrainian segment of Twitch, accumulating over 13 million hours of viewing time over the course of the year.
In addition, according to Maincast, esports broadcasts already rank third among the most popular sports broadcasts in Ukraine, trailing only soccer and basketball. This indicates that esports is gradually establishing itself as one of the key formats of sports content for Ukrainian audiences.
