Ukrainian esports club Natus Vincere has signed popular Japanese streamer Shaka : he will co-stream NAVI's Valorant esports matches for the Japanese audience. The organization announced this on social media, sharing a short video clip of their players watching the Japanese streamer's broadcast.
Shaka is known as one of the most popular community casters in Valorant esports. During VALORANT Champions 2022, he ranked second in total Hours Watched, right after tarik. His channel made it to the top four independent channels for peak online viewership during the VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo. Currently, Valorant boasts numerous popular community casters, but it's largely thanks to Shaka that Japanese has become one of the main languages in the discipline, almost on par with English and Portuguese.
Shaka — Japan's most-watched streamer in 2023
Shaka is one of the most popular Twitch streamers. In the first quarter of 2024, he ranked fourth on the platform in terms of total hours watched, trailing only Gaules, Jynxzi, and Kai Cenat. Shaka's channel boasts 1.4 million followers, with a record viewership exceeding 125K Peak Viewers.
Read also: Most Watched Streamers of Q1 2024
Shaka isn't the first Japanese individual to join the Ukrainian organization. In 2023, Natus Vincere first entered the Japanese market, signing teams for Brawl Stars and Clash of Clans. Currently: teams now represent the club in regional leagues and global championships.
Watch Parties or community casting is a widespread practice in esports, including Valorant. This involves popular streamers covering tournaments or matches of specific teams. Watch Parties differ from official broadcasts with (usually) informal atmosphere and can be more focused on specific teams. In Valorant, independent streamers often draw a comparable number of viewers to official broadcasts.
Read more: What is community casting and how does it affect esports viewership?
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