Battlerite is free to play this weekend: many players are flocking to take a look at the new MOBA. Some very well known streamers did the same in front of their usual viewers, including sodapoppin, imaqtpie, trumpsc, Chu8, and former TiP player Rush.

During peak periods, Battlerite was one of the top trending games on Steam, reaching even greater heights than its previous free weekend during beta. Concurrent viewers on Twitch surpassed 20K at some points, and the average viewership rose from about 700 daily to over 3K.

Don’t get your hopes up just yet, however. If you’re a Battlerite enthusiast like me, this news will probably have you reeling in excitement, but this is just a temporary spike. The numbers will normalize next week, and many of these full-time streamers will return to their usual routine.

It should also be noted that almost all of these high-profile streamers were sponsored by Battlerite for this event, a marketing move many have found controversial. These critics claim that thousands of viewers and players were merely bought for a few days of good ratings, and that the game will face lower numbers and fade into obscurity again when it's over.

Despite the inevitable drop in viewership, however, there is no reason to assume that the game will dwindle into nothing. Battlerite has already been an outstanding success. Thousands have begun playing it this weekend, and the playerbase's growth has been consistent so far.

Not too long ago, a noname game developer named Riot Games paid streamers to play their brand new game, League of Legends. Ratings spiked early on, but many doubted the future of the game and cast it aside as an inferior DotA. Look where it is today. Battlerite isn’t there yet, but it’s clear that Stunlock Studios have done their homework and is marketing the game in tested ways.

Will Battlerite become the next League of Legends? Probably not, but it seems to be well on its way to becoming the newest hit MOBA.