OpenSim User Growth Slows Down as Weather Cools – Hypergrid Business

It’s that time of year in the U.S. when the air turns crisp and the days become a mix of cool and unpredictable. But it’s not just the weather that has been fickle—there’s been a noticeable shift in the digital landscape as well. For some, diving into virtual realms has become the perfect escape from the world outside. That’s probably why we’ve seen an increase in both the number of registered users and land area in OpenSim’s public grids recently.

What’s puzzling, though, is that despite these increases, the number of active users took a dive—dropping by over 2,700 people. One explanation could be technical issues. Moonrose, for instance, counted over 900 active users last month but is having website troubles and didn’t publish stats this time around. Vida Dupla, with 375 actives last month, also didn’t report, and Great Canadian Grid, boasting over 600 actives, has closed its doors.

However, several grids reported a significant decrease in active user numbers. OSgrid alone lost over 800 actives compared to the previous month. Craft World saw over 200 users vanish, and five other grids each lost more than 100 users—indicative of something bigger at play than just a few technical snags.

Are people simply off enjoying real-world festivities like Halloween, or are they embracing the fall season, cozy sweater and all, with outdoor activities? Not quite. According to Paul Clevett from Wolf Territories, OSgrid is undergoing maintenance. Thanks to Paul, it came to light that the grid went offline on November 7 due to storage issues.

The grid’s storage, after 17 years of accumulating data, was running out of space. It stores both the original asset data and a backup, but those assets appear larger than they actually are. To address this, the grid needs a storage reconfiguration, which involves moving millions of assets and reclaiming excess space. This process isn’t something they can do with users online, hence the system’s maintenance mode.

While the timeline for completion remains uncertain, they assured users that no data should be lost in the process.

Currently, I’m tracking 2,677 public grids. Of these, 295 were active this month, and 232 reported their stats. If your grid has a stats page and isn’t on our radar, drop me a message at [email protected] so you can be featured in the report.

This month, even after a loss of more than 2,000 regions, OSgrid remains the largest by land area with 32,867 standard region equivalents. Wolf Territories Grid takes the lead in active engagement with 7,379 unique logins over the past 30 days.

Most grids using DreamGrid, a simple-to-use version of OpenSim for private use, are not counted in these stats. OpenSim, as a platform, shares likenesses with Second Life, offering users the chance to create worlds and connect to others without needing hefty technical knowledge. For tech-savvy users, running a grid with DreamGrid or the official OpenSim installer is at no cost, and commercial services start at under $5 per region.

Interested in knowing who’s hosting OpenSim? Here’s a handy list. Grab the recommended Firestorm viewer here and get tips on where to source content for your OpenSim world or region here.

Now, for those keen on staying up-to-date, the Hypergrid Business newsletter is ready for you. On the 15th of each month—fresh off the stats report—we’ll email you all the OpenSim highlights from the prior month. Subscribe by following this link or filling out the form below.

Top 25 Grids by Active Users

The general rule of thumb for social grids, especially closed ones, is the more the merrier in terms of users. Popular grids tend to attract those looking to make friends, content merchants seeking customers, and event organizers scouting for audiences.

Here’s a quick look at the top 25 busiest grids this month:

1. Wolf Territories Grid: 7,379 active users
2. OSgrid: 4,046 active users
3. GBG World: 2,498 active users
4. DigiWorldz: 2,190 active users
5. Alternate Metaverse: 2,058 active users
6. Darkheart’s Playground: 2,011 active users
7. WaterSplash: 1,497 active users
8. Trianon World: 1,092 active users
9. Neverworld: 1,042 active users
10. AviVerse AlterEgo: 1,020 active users
11. AviWorlds: 994 active users
12. Astralia: 867 active users
13. Littlefield: 861 active users
14. Party Destination Grid: 822 active users
15. AvatarLife: 672 active users
16. Groovy Verse: 605 active users
17. Eureka World: 595 active users
18. NakedWorldz: 576 active users
19. SunEden Resort: 553 active users
20. Gentle Fire Grid: 514 active users
21. Herederos Grid: 494 active users
22. Kitely: 462 active users
23. ZetaWorlds: 452 active users
24. Jungle Friends Grid: 434 active users
25. New Life Italy: 434 active users

Online Marketplaces for OpenSim Content

The Kitely Market features 20,973 listings with 41,105 variations, 35,866 of which can be exported. These listings have reached 632 OpenSim grids.

You’ll notice from the chart above that growth mainly comes from exportable content—the green area’s expansion speaks volumes. Non-exportable content, shown in red, has remained stable for eight years.

Kitely Market’s sizable collection of legal content is available on both hypergrid-enabled and private grids. Configuring Kitely Market for closed grids is easy with these instructions. Earlier this month, Kitely also added support for PBR materials and larger textures.

New Grids

This month, we welcomed a new addition: NakedWorldz.

If there’s a public grid you think we’re missing, email me at [email protected].

Suspended Grids

The following grids have been suspended: Angel Grid, Ares World, Binders World, Cajun Grid, DreamNation, Ghost Area, Homeland, KubwasWelt, and Nosso Lar. Should they remain offline, we’ll mark them as closed in future reports. Sometimes grids update their login URI or website address; if so, let me know to update our records.

Top 40 Grids by Land Area

Region counts here are based on standard region equivalents. Active user numbers include hypergrid visitors where possible.

Many private, educational, or corporate grids do not make their stats public.

• OSgrid: 32,867 regions
• Wolf Territories Grid: 29,987 regions
• Kitely: 18,126 regions
• ZetaWorlds: 13,032 regions
• Alternate Metaverse: 10,437 regions
• Groovy Verse: 8,756 regions
• Virtual Vista Metaverse: 6,217 regions
• DigiWorldz: 3,515 regions
• CandM World: 2,094 regions
• Discovery Grid: 1,714 regions
• Tag Grid: 1,465 regions
• Shoalwater Bay: 1,104 regions
• Friends Grid: 1,040 regions
• Simation Grid: 1,024 regions
• ArtDestiny: 961 regions
• GBG World: 961 regions
• Virtual Worlds Grid: 914 regions
• AviWorlds: 818 regions
• Craft World: 711 regions
• Kinky Haven: 669 regions
• AvatarLife: 597 regions
• Littlefield: 478 regions
• Furry World: 373 regions
• Neverworld: 372 regions
• Virtual Worlds Zone: 364 regions
• Darkheart’s Playground: 323 regions
• Nemesis 3D: 305 regions
• EdMondo: 300 regions
• Open Virtual Worlds: 229 regions
• MisFitz Grid: 213 regions
• Counter Earth: 199 regions
• Kater and Friends: 198 regions
• Japan Open Grid: 197 regions
• Adreans-World: 161 regions
• Utopia Skye: 156 regions
• XTalent: 142 regions
• GerGrid: 141 regions
• WestWorld Grid: 126 regions
• Outworldz: 126 regions
• Logicamp: 120 regions

Know any other public grids that we might be missing? Let me know at [email protected].

Editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, Maria Korolov, is a sci-fi novelist and award-winning freelance technology journalist covering AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise VR. See her Amazon author page and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Catch her latest YouTube videos. Her virtual world novella, Krim Times, was an Amazon best-seller, followed by The Lost King of Krim. She also publishes MetaStellar, a speculative fiction magazine. Email Maria at [email protected].