In the late 1990s and early 2010s, virtual worlds were vibrant social spaces where people gathered to build, celebrate, and create communities online. Platforms such as Second Life and several Open Sim-based grids—including InWorldz, Kitely, and OSG.
Over time, however, participation in many of these worlds has declined dramatically. For those who built businesses and social networks within them — like me — the decline is not just a statistic. It’s a personal experience.
Building a business in a virtual world
Within these digital environments, users could create and sell virtual goods.
My own shop, Festive Occasions, specialized in items designed for celebrations: balloons, gifts, birthday cakes, party decorations, and other festive objects. These products were used by residents to decorate homes, host events, or give personalized gifts to friends.
During the years when InWorldz was active, my shop had a steady stream of customers.
Many were regular visitors who requested customized items for special occasions. Customers often asked for personalized birthday cards, balloons with names on them, and even unique gifts such as musical snow globes.
These purchases were not simply decorative objects; they were part of meaningful social interactions. Customers frequently explained who the gift was for, because the items were customized for the recipient. Sometimes I was asked to create decorations for entire parties or events.
As a result, my work became woven into the celebrations and social lives of people I might never meet in the physical world. Being a creator in these environments meant feeling connected to the community’s shared experiences.
A sudden turning point
The closure of InWorldz marked a turning point.
When that grid shut down in 2018, a large and active community disappeared almost overnight. Although other OpenSim grids continued to operate, the same level of activity never fully returned. Another change also affected virtual commerce: many users gradually learned to create their own objects.
As building tools became more familiar, residents increasingly made their own decorations and gifts rather than purchasing them from creators. The combination of fewer users and more do-it-yourself creation reduced demand for virtual products.
The introduction of mesh objects also created a stumbling block with how difficult it was to learn the program, Blender. The creation of mesh objects caused a decline in the desire for the purchase of objects made of prims.
So those creating with prims saw a huge decline in the sales of their products.
While I still create my products with prims, I enjoy making my products that celebrate milestones in people’s lives and bring smiles to their virtual and real faces.
Watching the population disappear
The decline in user activity is visible in a simple but telling way: the number of people logged in at any given time.
Years ago, it was common to log into a grid and see a hundred users online. Regions were active, stores had visitors, and events were frequent.
Today, the experience can be very different. In some OpenSim grids, the number of users online at a given moment may be fewer than twenty, and sometimes none at all.
Even in Second Life, which still maintains the largest and most active user base among the closed virtual worlds, there are signs that overall participation is smaller than it once was. You can see the number of users logged in on the main login page.
The human side of digital decline
For those who spent years in these environments, the decline is more than a technological trend.
Logging into a once-active grid and finding empty spaces can feel strangely quiet and even disturbing. The shops are still there, the landscapes still exist, and the objects people created remain in place, but the people who brought those worlds to life are often missing.
For creators and long-time residents, that absence can be emotional. Many friendships were formed in these spaces, and social gatherings — parties, celebrations, and casual conversations — were once a regular part of everyday virtual life.
Seeing those communities fade can create a sense of loss for a platform that was once engaging, creative, and socially vibrant.
A changing digital landscape
The decline of traditional virtual worlds reflects broader changes in the online ecosystem. Social media platforms, multiplayer games, and mobile-based digital communities now compete for the same attention that earlier virtual worlds once captured.
As technology and online culture evolved, the large, open-ended worlds of the early metaverse era became more niche environments. Yet for those who experienced their peak years, these worlds remain memorable examples of what online communities can become when creativity, social interaction, and user-generated content come together.
Virtual worlds may be quieter today, but the communities that once filled them left lasting impressions.
For their residents, those memories are still as vivid as the worlds themselves. And the same is true for creators, like me.
A new beginning
For some of us, the story of virtual worlds has not quite ended. I still keep a small shop on the Utopia Skye grid, a place that has become something of a quiet home for my work.
Although that grid is no longer connected through the hypergrid, I recently opened a store on the Kitely Market, which distributes products to hundreds of OpenSim grids.
I am still in the process of uploading my creations, rebuilding my collection piece by piece. It takes time, but the effort feels worthwhile. Even though the crowds may be smaller than they once were, I still believe in the OpenSim community and in the small moments of happiness these virtual creations can bring.
Virtual worlds may be quieter now, but for those of us who continue to build, create, and share, the spirit of those communities is still very much alive.
Hope R. Botterbusch is an immersive learning and virtual environments practitioner with many years of experience designing, teaching, and researching education in 3D virtual worlds. Her work focuses on the pedagogical, ethical, and practical use of platforms such as Second Life and OpenSim grids to support learning, collaboration, and community engagement across academic and professional contexts. Since retiring in 2013 from professional life, she remains active in virtual worlds by designing festive products for birthdays, rez days, and more.
