Do casters matter? Debate swirls after esports commentator's 'ignorant' hot take

An Apex Legends caster sparked some angry reactions from his peers.

Australian Apex Legends commentator Brad “im_b_rad” Lusher started a debacle on Twitter on June 11 after pointing out he thinks casters are “the least important part” of esports broadcasts, and hinted they should be paid less.

What im_b_rad didn’t expect, however, was that his peers would absolutely dunk on him because of this hot take. A number of prominent casters from several esports disagreed with im_b_rad and even offended him, while others tried to explain why casters are a vital part of esports.

Esports hot takeCasters are the least important part of a broadcast and should be paid like it.Admins, observers and production are more essential to a broadcast.

“I think this might be the most ignorant thing I’ve read about not just esports, but broadcasting in general,” former Overwatch League caster Erik “DoA” Lonnquist replied to im_b_rad. “If you’re in that much of a hurry to devalue the craft of casting just go and undercut your peers,” Overwatch League‘s caster Mitch “Uber” Leslie wrote to im_b_rad.

I think this might be the most ignorant thing I've read about not just esports, but broadcasting in general.

never thought the voice of oce would come across like such a pick-meif youre in that much of a hurry to devalue the craft of casting just go and undercut your peers. more effective and produces one less utter tripe opinion on the internet

One of the best responses, however, came from Generation Esports’ senior product manager Brennan Wright.

Wright told im_b_rad that while no viewer would watch a match with no commentary, lots of esports fans watch old matches from time to time because of iconic quotes such as Callum “Shogun” Keir’s after NRG’s Justin “jstn.” Morales scored a goal with no time left on the clock in the 2019 World Championship, and Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett’s reaction to Virtus Pro’s Snax legendary clutch on Cobblestone.

Jason “Alchemist” Baker, a veteran esports figure that previously held production roles at ELEAGUE, ESL, and MLG, also disagreed with im_b_rad. “People will watch a great caster fumble their own observer feed over a great production with no casters,” Alchemist wrote.

Im_b_rad may have just been trying to highlight the work production does for esports broadcasts, or he might have just tweeted it to farm impressions, but he arguably never had as many people disagreeing with his opinion.

Staff writer and CS:GO lead. Leonardo has been passionate about games since he was a kid and graduated in Journalism in 2018. Before Leonardo joined Dot Esports in 2019, he worked for Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte. Leonardo also worked for HLTV.org between 2020 and 2021 as a senior writer, until he returned to Dot Esports and became part of the staff team.