Rift Legends: How Poland’s ERL Viewership Skyrocketed by Over 1100%

When Nervarien's GAM3RS_X took over Poland’s regional League of Legends competition in late 2024 and rebranded the long-standing Ultraliga into Rift Legends, few expected the viewership boom that followed. According to Esports Charts, the Winter 2025 split reached a staggering 52,549 peak viewers, marking a +1167% increase compared to the final season of Ultraliga just a few months earlier, which capped out at 4,149 peak viewers.

Here's how the numbers stack up over the last few splits:

Although it officially recognizes players from countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Israel as residents, Rift Legends was originally focused on rebuilding a sense of community within Poland. The Ultraliga had long served as the country’s dedicated league before the transition.

Several key factors contributed to this unprecedented surge, but it all began with a broader policy shift by Riot Games across ERLs. Starting this year, tournament organizers were given the green light to authorize co-streaming, allowing players to broadcast their own point of view during both official matches and scrims. While this model gained traction thanks to Los Ratones in the NLC, Rift Legends also embraced the opportunity very aggressively, reshaping how fans engage with the league.

Over 50 streamers and players received the green light from GAM3RS_X to co-stream league games, enabling the competition to tap into the massive audiences of Poland’s top creators. Among them was jungler and creator Artur "Rybson" Gębicz, whose own stream peaked at 24,000+ concurrent viewers—nearly half of the league’s total peak—despite his team falling short in playoffs.

This streamer-player hybrid approach allowed new personalities to rise as well. Zamulek, AD Carry for KMF and Rybson’s teammate, began consistently streaming his POV and growing a loyal audience on Twitch.

Frajgo, KMF’s top laner, has experienced a similar trajectory. By streaming both official games and ranked grind sessions, he’s built up his own presence as a content creator while competing in the league.

Rift Legends has also leaned heavily into nostalgia and polished esports heritage. The Devils.one x KMT lineup was built around the iconic Kiedyś Miałem Team, which famously qualified for the EU LCS in 2013. It featured legendary names like Oskar Mateusz "Vander" Bogdan, Remigiusz "Overpow" Pusch, and Fryderyk "Veggie" Kozioł. While the team was sadly relegated after losing in the promotion tournament, their presence alone drew massive attention from older fans of the scene.

GAM3RS_X didn’t stop there. They hosted their winter finals in Poland’s largest cinema hall, with nearly 800 seats completely sold out. This blend of esports and spectacle helped solidify the rebranded league’s fresh identity.

And they’re not slowing down: the entirety of the Spring 2025 playoffs will be held on LAN, with GAM3RS_X aiming to sell up to 5,000 tickets—a bold move that further cements the league’s growth ambitions.

Mainstream Polish media is taking notice too. The country’s oldest ongoing gaming magazine is preparing a special League of Legends edition, a rare spotlight for a game that’s now over a decade old.

While the remarkable growth of the Polish ERL demonstrates how a regional league can successfully reignite community interest, Rift Legends now faces a different set of challenges. As shown in the table at the top of this report, the region has consistently experienced a dip in viewership during the latter part of each competitive season.

The ongoing Rift Legends Spring Split has so far peaked at around 15,000 viewers. Whether the playoffs will push that number closer to last split's peak remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: sustaining momentum and keeping fans engaged will be GAM3RS_X’s biggest challenge moving forward.

Despite the demotion of some of Poland’s iconic names, other veteran talents have joined the hype for the new Rift Legends Spring Split. Cinkrof, one of Poland’s most recognizable junglers and a former European competitor, has joined Forsaken, the Winter split’s fourth-place finisher. His arrival sets the stage for another stacked, viewership-heavy Spring split.