Article

While we’re used to seeing low population MMORPGs, what about no population games? What would it be like to log into an online world where you’re the only person around — or, at least, one of the extremely few?

Then you’d be in the MMO version of the Backrooms, that eerie liminal space that’s meant to be populated and lived in, but it’s just you, silence, and a feeling of wrongness. Today we’re going to look at 10 MMOs that are virtually deserted, yet you can still log in and wander around in them… if you dare.

Meridian 59

Before we get going here, I do want to make clear that I’m not looking to point and laugh at any of the titles on this list. Some had their day in the sun a long time ago and have simply run their course until they become (interactive) museum pieces. And such is the case for Meridian 59, one of the proto-MMOs from the ’90s that crawled so that we could hearth. There are just a handful of players who check into this 2.5-D game on any given day, but it’s enough to know that there’s still interest and this title is still preserved for the curious or nostalgic.

Active Worlds

And speaking of games from the three decades prior, there is Active Worlds, a virtual world that came into being back in 1995. And yes, for whatever reason, it’s still around and giving us the best shiny graphics that the mid-’90s had to offer. While the occasional streamer does bring attention to it, for the most part this is Inactive Worlds that creep people out if they wander into its realm.

Ryzom

One of the stranger MMORPGs of the early 2000s, Ryzom was created in Europe with an idea of presenting a truly alien world for players to explore. It had some interesting ideas and a small but dedicated playerbase before eventually going open source. These days, the Steam version is seeing an average of six players at any given time, making an alien setting that much more of a final frontier.

Cabal Online

Cabal Online is one of those MMOs I remember reporting on more back in the day. It was a Korean game that came out in 2005, was a modest success, and spawned both a sequel and a mobile spin-off. The original, however, is a complete ghost town these days without much of a reason at all to play it. But it’s still there? Sure, why not.

Mortal Online

You know what happens when you release a sequel to an MMO and abandon the first game? Oddly enough, people stop playing the original. Imagine that. And this is the exact situation that affected Mortal Online, which has been pushed out of the way in favor of the newer Mortal Online II. But if you wanted to go back to the 2010 title, pick up a sword, and declare yourself the winner of the PvP war by default, hey, nobody’s gonna stop you. Because nobody’s there.

The 4th Coming

The 4th Coming is another one of those late ’90s MMORPGs that only the ancient gamers with the best of memories recall. It was small back then and hasn’t really seen a modern renaissance, dithering between 10 and 20 players at any given time on Steam. But if you like that Diablo or Ultima Online isometric look, it might be worth a play — if you don’t mind being mostly by yourself.

Perpetuum Online

Perpetuum’s had a fascinating run that few MMORPGs can boast, having fully turned over the game and its source code to the community back in the late 2010s after a shutdown in 2018. And while that revival was great to see, the crowds never materialized. At its height, this title couldn’t even push past 300 concurrency, and these days it’s usually under 10.

Guns of Icarus Online

Not a lot of people remember Guns of Icarus these days — unless, that is, you Kickstarted it back in 2013. The title split into two versions, a PvP and PvE one, and struggled mightily to retain players after launch in either. When your average players are somewhere around 2.3 in a given moment, then you’ll have to make do with the fact that it’ll just be you, some other person, and someone’s shin bone and spleen hanging out in the entire game world.

Eldevin

You know what? Eldevin is a pretty cool little MMO with groovy old-school vibes. It’s never seen great heights of success, but it’s charming and well-put together, and people give it generally good reviews. And while it saw historic low populations in 2025, that’s changed in recent months as the population’s clawed above 100 for the first time in over a decade. So maybe what was once a ghost town… now isn’t?

Age of Conan

While this may be the highest-population title on this list — hovering around 50 players on average — it’s the former prominence of this 2008 MMO and its subsequent decline that earns it a spot. Age of Conan used to be Funcom’s edgy prodigy, but it’s since been supplanted by newer titles including another Conan property. Nowadays, you still can venture into Hyboria, but don’t expect to see hardly anyone around if you do.

Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”