UPDATE (November 6): Decksplash developer Bossa Studios has been in touch with some more up-to-date figures for the game's free week. Since the event launched on Thursday, there have been 27,261 'first-time downloads', a daily average of around 5,500.

Original story:

There were strong reactions all round when Bossa Studios announced that it would cancel its skateboard turf-war game Decksplash if it didn't reach 100,000 players during a free week. That free week is now upon us, lasting until next Friday, and so far around 7,000 players have jumped on board since the launch on Thursday, according to Steam Spy.

Roughly 14,000 people have downloaded the game for the free week and half have actually played the game, the stats site suggests, which shows that it's attracting interest. But it will have to pick up speed to meet its goal.

If you don't know about Decksplash, it's made up of PvP matches in which you and two teammates gain control of parts of an arena by stringing together combos of grinds, spins, and manuals and then splatting down your team's paint on the ground as you land.

As I said, the news that the game could be cancelled before it launched proved controversial, and the reaction was strong enough for Bossa to shoot a video explaining the decision, which you can watch below.

For what it's worth, the reactions of Steam users that have tried the game have been mostly positive. Here's a clip of the game in action:

Head over to the Steam page if you fancy checking it out.