Summary
Despite someMMOshaving a grueling first few hours, most gamers tend to stick around for the fascinating lore and impeccable social aspects, yet sometimes, the overall playability and enjoyment can gradually decrease over time, causing a decline in those who revere the title to remain loyal.
As one may imagine, the very heart and soul of this sociable genre is rooted within its devoted players, yet if this key component is taken out of the mix, even thebest MMOswill inevitably crumble. With a drastically dwindling player count, and a vicious contrast to their former glory days,once-popular MMOs are on the cusp of going obsolete on Steam.
Updated on June 15, 2025 by Mark Sammut:The data for each MMO has been updated, along with their specs and notes. Furthermore, another MMO has been added, one that takes inspiration from Pokemon.
As Steam’s player data is readily available, this metric has been highlighted; however, Valve’s platform is not the be-all-and-end-all. As many communities utilize their MMO’s official launcher rather than Steam, notes have been included to provide some indication of how these games are performing in general.
All-Time Steam Peak Player Count: 1,276 (March 2013)
Set in the barbarous world ofHyboria,Age Of Conan: Unchainedencapsulates its players with everything MMO, from anintense combat systemto a vast roster of classes. Although the current player count shows a clear-cut sign of this title’s archaic nature, gamers were once entranced with the immense list of intriguing quests, engaging dialogue, and even fierce guild wars, relishing in an action-packed title that granted incessant hours of joy.
Donning a frivolous launch,Age Of Conan: Unchainedwas once a prominent name in the MMO scene, homing in on hundreds of daily active players. However, the game’s strongest days seem to be in the past, as now thishistorical time piecehas fallen off on platforms like Steam, even if its gripping premise and social attributes continue to be worth celebrating.
Mmo-population.com estimates thatAge of Conan: Unchainedmanages about 1000 daily players, which paints a more hopeful picture than the Steam numbers. While certainly not in its heyday, the game is still a somewhat valid option in 2024.
All-Time Steam Peak Player Count: 11,647 (October 2013)
Having its players thrust into the dangerous yet beautiful realm ofTelera, the renowned MMORiftutilizes a heavily customizable character system to captivate its fans, allowing them to mix and match abilities and factions. From fending off theElemental Planes' vicious creatures to trading with comrades,Riftsolidified its legacy as a memorable MMO.
Despite its vividly sociable and profoundly entertaining debut,Rift’s active player count has taken a blow over the past few years, barely surpassing the 100 mark on Steam. However, those who still partake in its exhilarating raids,challenging dungeons, and satisfying combat systemstill hold hope for the future, making sure their beloved title doesn’t go under. For the most part,Riftis still relatively active away from Steam.
Mmo-population.com’sRiftpage does not have a daily player count estimate, at least the data has not been available in recent months (although June 27, 2025 lists about 5000 players, so that could be an indication of the game’s popularity).
All-Time Steam Peak Player Count: 4,973 March 2013)
The skirmish MMOStar Conflictis engaging, chaotic, and downright action-packed. The game launches fans into the center of a destructively conflicting space battle against not onlyNPCs (Non-Playable Characters)but also other players.
With such an enticing plot at hand, it was a no-brainer thatStar Conflict’s launch was distinctively lucrative, amassing over five thousand spaceship pilots at once. Nevertheless, their gigantic playing arena seemingly fell through, as now, this once eminent game struggles to allure over 200 active players a day on Steam, making the game all but dead on Steam’s platform.
Mmo-population.com paints a somewhat more hopeful image ofStar Conflict’s present and future, with the game seemingly managing to average 500+ players on most days.
All-Time Steam Peak Player Count: 3,465 (April 2017)
A somewhat more recent example of an MMO that has lost its fans' attention isSkyforge, a title that tasks players with defending the jaw-dropping planet ofAelionfrom belligerent forces of evil. Offering a plethora of unique classes to choose from, a highly dynamic fighting system to master, andastonishingly deep loreto delve into,Skyforgehas cemented its name within the grounds of MMOs alike.
Despite its fruitful first appearance on the MMO scene,Skyforge’s overall playability and satisfaction have taken a notable plunge in recent years, and things are looking pretty bad for the game’s future at the moment. Although an impressive number of active players once relished this fantastical project, the current count is all-around unimpressive, and that goes beyond just Steam.
Mmo-population.com does not paint that encouraging a picture away from Steam either, although that might just be due to a lack of available data. Still, the few spikes the game experienced in recent months suggest thousands of players are still around.
All-Time Steam Peak Player Count: 39,501 (January 2020)
Temtemis a strange case, as the title is still worthy of a recommendation, albeit as a single-player creature collector rather than an MMO designed to be played endlessly. Working through the story should keep most people engaged for roughly 50 hours, and they will likely have a decent time if they are craving a fairly safe but enjoyablePokemon-style experience with pretty good visuals, solid combat, and quite a bit of secondary content. The creature designs are also pretty great, which could be enough to entice most people.
That said,Temtem’s MMO element is fairly underwhelming throughout the main campaign, outside a few basics like daily missions and PvP (that said, the endgame shifts fairly extensively into MMO territory). The latter can be fun at times, but the competitive scene tends to be pretty divisive among players. More importantly,Crema has announced that support forTemtemwill be coming to an end soon, with the upcoming 1.8 patch being the last major update. Ultimately, players should pick upTemtemif they are interested in the single-player stuff; if that hits the mark, the MMO side of things can be a nice bonus.
Temtemdoes not have a profile on mmopopulation.com, butmmostats.com estimates that the game has about 850 daily players.
