Hearthstone esports' new system is off to a great start. The first weekend of the competition's highest level, the Grandmasters league, saw viewership reach levels usually reserved for tournaments the size of seasonal championships. At its peak, Grandmasters' opening weekend had over 46 thousand concurrent viewers.

The numbers were published by viewership data site Esports Charts; The numbers of Grandmasters' Europe division, Americas division and Asia Pacific division were tracked individually. While it was the European region that reached the peak of 46,362 viewers - which isn't too weird given its time zone - the other regions didn't trail too far behind. Asia Pacific's Grandmasters division reached a viewer peak of 37,660, and the Americas region got to a solid 42,151 viewers. The most-watched match of all was the clash between G2's Rdu and Team Genji's Seiko.

It's looking bright

While it's not weird for opening weekends to pull such numbers, Blizzard can expect similar numbers for at least a few weeks, thanks to Hearthstone's developer team. Today it's nerfing four cards key in the current meta, and on June 3rd a total of 18 cards will be buffed alongside the introduction of a brand new, free legendary minion. With a meta that vibrant, viewers are bound to tune in and watch what the pros are playing.