OpenSim land area has passed 130,000 standard region equivalents this month, for a new all-time high. This is the second month in a row that OpenSim has set a land record. The total number of regions grew by over 2,000 over the past month. Registered users also increased, by more than 5,000, and active users increased by more than 800.
Traffic is expected to be even higher in the next month because the annual OSFest kicked off today.
We are now tracking a total of 2,619 OpenSim grids, 430 of which were active and 270 of which published their statistics this month. The rest do not have accessible public stats pages. If you have a stats page that we’re not tracking, please email us at david@hypergridbusiness.com or maria@hypergridbusiness.com — that way, your grid will be mentioned in this report every month, for additional visibility with both search engines and users.
Oh, the total number of active grids was also a record high this month.
OSgrid, Wolf Territories Grid, and Kitely were the three largest grids by land area this month, as they have been for a while now.
OSgrid, a free-to-connect, non-profit world, now has an equivalent of 29,770 standard-sized regions in total, followed by Wolf Territories Grid with 25,504 regions, Kitely with 18,301, ZetaWorlds with 10,386, and Alternate Metaverse with 9,949 regions.
OSgrid offers unlimited free regions to all residents — as long as people run them on their home computers. They have an easy region installer here. No wonder they’re the largest grid in OpenSim.
ZetaWorlds, on the other hand, offers two-by-two regions with 75,000 prims for €18.99 (US $21) per month with other configuration options also available. Groovyverse land prices start at $25 per month for a region that can be configured to be as big as 16 by 16 standard regions. Both grids also offer free land parcels to residents.
DreamGrid has so far recorded a total of 3,435 unique DreamGrids that have launched since DreamGrid started, according to Micro Technology Services CEO Fred Beckhusen. Micro Technology Services owns both DreamGrid and OutWorldz.
Our stats also do not include many of the grids running on DreamGrid since these tend to be private grids.
The total list of grids for which OutWorldz reports stats is available here. Anyone can easily add their grid to this list from the same page.
With the free-to-use DreamGrid software, users can easily create virtual worlds through a graphical interface and one-click install feature. They can also use it to easily and quickly manage their grids, including adding new regions, banning users, deleting regions, auto restarting, tracking usage stats, and shutting down entire grids or unoccupied regions to save computing power. Learn here how to create and host a new Dreamgrid on your home computer using the software.
OutWorldz also offers free OARs — complete region files — which you can load to your grid easily and with little effort.
OpenSim is a free open-source, virtual world platform, that’s similar to Second Life and allows people with no technical skills to quickly and cheaply create virtual worlds and teleport to other virtual worlds. Those with technical skills can run OpenSim worlds on their own servers for free using either DreamGrid, the official OpenSim installer for those who are more technically inclined, or any other distribution, while commercial hosting starts at less than $5 a region.
A list of OpenSim hosting providers is here. Download the recommended Firestorm viewer here and find out where to get content for your OpenSim world or region here.
Hypergrid Business newsletter is now available
Every month on the 15th — right after the stats report comes out — we will be sending out a newsletter with all the OpenSim news from the previous month. You can subscribe here or fill out the form below.
Top 25 grids by active users
When it comes to general-purpose social grids, especially closed grids, the rule of thumb is the busier the better. People looking to make new friends look for grids that already have the most users. Merchants looking to sell content will go to the grids with the most potential customers. Event organizers looking for the biggest audience — you get the idea.
Top 25 most popular grids this month:
- OSgrid: 5,108 active users
- Wolf Territories Grid: 3,568 active users
- DigiWorldz: 2,196 active users
- GBG World: 2,116 active users
- Alternate Metaverse: 1,647 active users
- Piggy Bank Grid World: 1,493 active users
- Darkheart’s Playground: 1,479 active users
- AviWorlds: 1,283 active users
- AviTron: 1,121 active users
- Moonrose: 1,091 active users
- Neverworld: 998 active users
- Exo-Life: 992 active users
- Party Destination Grid: 858 active users
- Trianon World: 829 active users
- Jungle Friends Grid: 787 active users
- Kitely: 743 active users
- Herederos Grid: 613 active users
- Littlefield: 516 active users
- Barefoot Dreamers: 516 active users
- Craft World: 508 active users
- DreamNation: 456 active users
- ProxyNet: 448 active users
- ZetaWorlds: 438 active users
- German World Grid: 436 active users
- Gentle Fire Grid: 436 active users
The active list is based on active, unique 30-day user login numbers that grids report on their stats pages. Those grids that don’t report their numbers might be just as popular, but we wouldn’t know. The most popular grids are also not necessarily the most active.
Little Big City is this month’s greatest gainer in the number of active users with 406 new active users, followed by the new Herederos Grid with 324 actives, Eureka World and GBG World both with 302, and Trianon World with 272.
The active user stats are used to generate the popular hypergrid destinations list, which is useful if you have a hypergrid teleport and want to put up gates to the most popular grids or include the most popular grids in an in-world directory. This list is also a good place to start if you want to open up new stores, hold events, or are just looking for places to visit.
Eureka World registered the highest number of users this month with 393 users, followed by OSgrid with 342, AvatarLife with 167, Kitely with 132, and the new Herederos Grid with 90 newly registered users.
Here’s some information on how and why you should set up a stats page for your grid. Not all grids need a stats page — especially grids that aren’t open to the public like school grids, private company grids, small family grids, and so on. From prior surveys, this dark metaverse of OpenSim grids is significantly bigger than the one we know about, because those grids don’t need to promote themselves, and we never hear about them.
Online marketplaces for OpenSim content
There are currently 20,180 product listings in Kitely Market containing 39,935 product variations, 34,821 of which are exportable.
Kitely Market has delivered orders to 598 OpenSim grids to date. The Kitely Market is the largest collection of legal content available in OpenSim. It is accessible to both hypergrid-enabled and closed, private grids. The instructions for how to configure the Kitely Market for closed grids are here.
As seen from the above chart, nearly all the growth in Kitely Market has been in content that can be exported to other grids — that is the green area in the chart. The red area, of non-exportable content, has stayed level for the past seven years.
Offering a convenient and low-cost way for OpenSim users to buy legitimate, legal content not only offers creators sales opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise but reduces the need for pirated content, similar to the way that Netflix and other streaming services have reduced the amount of illegal video streaming.
In addition, restricting content to closed grids does little to stop piracy. Most stolen content is ripped from Second Life, the original closed grid. The only time that being on a closed grid offers additional security for content creators is when the content involves high-end scripts or proprietary animations.
Speaking of closed grids — where users are not able to teleport to other grids — the biggest such grid, Tag, also has its online marketplace. The marketplace lists 29,950 items both for sale and free.
Neverworld Grid Marketplace is another option for OpenSim grids and does support hypergrid shoppers. The site currently has a few dozen items for sale to both residents and hypergridders. It is a place for sourcing free and extremely cheap items since most are priced at under $3.
Neverworld also offers free virtual land to residents who can then set up shop and craft or bring in virtual items for sale or give away at the marketplace. The free parcels measure from 3,000 to 16,000 meters in size and can support up to 5,000 prims, grid owner Govega Sachertorte told Hypergrid Business.
Neverworld also offers a free region server to anyone who wants to self-host a region or grid on Neverworld. To do so, you need to download and install the server software on your machine, ensure the router ports are open as required, and run the .bin file as per instructions on this link then set up a region.
OpenSim grid news
OSFest 2023 kicks off
This year’s annual OpenSim’s largest hypergrid event OpenSim Fest — which attracts thousands of participants including sponsors, builders, exhibitors, artists, musicians, merchants, grid owners, and OpenSim enthusiasts from around the hypergrid — kicks off at 9.00 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, September 15. The full calendar of events is located on this link.
The final build testing was completed successfully on September 14, but the floor is still open for anyone willing to volunteer or sponsor the event. Details on how to register as an exhibitor, merchant, volunteer, promoter, supporter, and attender are located on this link and you can follow the progress via the host’s Discord group here. OSFest also runs a YouTube page, Facebook page, Twitter page, and OpenSimWorld page from where you can get regular updates on proceedings, and occurrences about the event.
Twenty-nine companies and individuals are sponsoring this year’s event, which usually takes place for 16 days and offers more than 90 hours of live performances and tours of exhibits and merchant stores. Over 140 standard region equivalents spanning a total area of nine square kilometers have been set aside for the various exhibitions, expos, performances, presentations, group and individual tours, and meetings.
In addition to sponsors, grid owners, builders, and merchants exhibiting their items, there are a host of events planned including a 10th anniversary of The Golden Touch theater at 11.00 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, September 16 at Golden Sky Region of the Utopia Sky Grid where the theater is hosted. There also will be group tours to exhibitor stores on Mondays and Wednesdays during the event period.
The hypergrid address to the Welcome region is grid.opensimfest.com:8022:hg-welcome.
Wish Upon a Star at the Grid Genesis Roleplay
The shopping area Masala Al Kahov, translated in English as “wish upon a star,” has launched on Genesis RolePlay grid. It offers original and remodeled freebies built by owners of the mall.
Here you can get, for free, their newest creation the Pineview Townhouse — a very detailed house with a garage, kitchen, living room, den or study, bedroom, bathroom, 3D windows, and a deck. The beautiful mesh is full perm copy, modify, and transfer and you can use it to beautify your grid or regions.
Masala Al Kahov also offers other freebie items like original plants, furniture, boats, English manor houses, pumpkin houses, flax flowers, and small shops. You can get items for all manner of holiday and event decorations.
The hypergrid address is grid.genesis-roleplay.org:8002:Masala Al Kohav.
I Love You Grid up and running despite devastating earthquake
Last week’s Marrakesh earthquake has left a huge loss and disruptions including to power, broadband, and telephony connectivity but I Love You Grid — whose one of the owners, DebzFox, resides in Morocco’s capital — has announced that it has made necessary arrangements to run the grid without interruptions despite the happenings.
The grid offers free land for residents, events every Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday, and shops and a Superstore for those interested in lifestyle shopping. It also runs an open social network for anyone willing to join and radio streams that broadcast for 24 hours each day.
Littlefield held 9-11 memorial
The Memorial Region in Littlefield grid hosted the 9-11 tragedy memorial, as it does every year on September 11 of this month. The region hosts a replica of the Tower of Voices for Flight 93 among many other items that are still accessible to anyone willing to pay a visit.
The hypergrid address is lfgrid.com:8002:9-11 Memorial.
HG Safari group to tour the Luxor region in Wolf Territories Grid
HG Safari social group still continues to visit various OpenSim grids and will visit the Luxor region in Wolf Territories starting at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, September 27, and will run for two hours as usual.
Members of the international OpenSim tour group usually first meet at the HG Safari region on OSGrid at hg.osgrid.org:80:HG Safari then proceed to tour together and experience, highlight, and popularize interesting places around the hypergrid. The events are all planned with the host grid owners and it is a great way for grid owners willing to make known their interesting locations, items, and works in OpenSim.
You can know about the group’s upcoming visits or tours through its Facebook page, MeWe, and Discord group, and send a message or notecard to Thirza Ember if you are a grid or region owner who would like to host the group tour in your grid or region.
The hypergrid address is grid.wolfterritories.org:8002:Luxor.
Learn about health and disability issues at the Healthinfo Island and Virtual Ability grid
Virtual Ability’s Healthinfo Island region located in Second Life now has eight displays and exhibits meant to educate and raise awareness about different health concerns. The displays and exhibits address to obstructive sleep apnea, animal zoonotic diseases, managing sadness, coping with intense emotions, rhabdomyolysis, inflammatory bowel disease and Irritable bowel syndrome, Argh emotional meltdown, and red meat allergy.
You can click on the link provided above to teleport to the different exhibit locations, then find different posters with their descriptions about each of the various health conditions.
Virtual Ability is a US non-profit corporation with a mission to enable people with a wide range of disabilities and shares and creates awareness on physical inabilities and related support in the society through the website, Second Life, and its grid in OpenSim. The organization provides information about various health issues and links to different relevant products and services. This month, the organization is helping raise awareness about the sepsis condition now that September is Sepsis Awareness Month.
A survey of people with disabilities in the US states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada, and the Pacific Basin is also being conducted by Robyn R Gershon, College of Global Public Health, New York University. According to the organization’s blog, the survey will provide information on how ADA Coordinators are helping people with disabilities in their local communities and how they can further be empowered to do so.
New grids
The following grids were added to our database this month: Ansjela Grid, Ares World, Butschiland, CLC grid, Conectados Grid, Escape 2 Reality Grid, Genesis PR, Holo Neon, Humble Grid, Hypergrid City, Lailara Heya, Little Big City, Monarch Gardens, Nekolution, Old Europa Metaverse, SiN Grid, and Troiwia, Vanessa.
If you know of any public grid that we’re missing, please email us at david@hypergridbusiness.com or maria@hypergridbusiness.com.
Closed grids
After a grid has been inactive for two months, we mark it as suspended. Then, after it’s been suspended for a couple of months, we mark it as closed.
The following 25 grids were marked as suspended this month: Adult Nation, Adventure Bay, Costa Isla, Eenhgrid, Elords, Etheria Grid, Farm World A Sua Vida Virtual, Happy Hour, Hasengang, Hot Gorean Nights, IBK Grid, Impulse Grid, OpenSim UAb, OpenSims Life, Pleasant Retreat, Proxy, Starfleet, Sweet Life, Troy, VR Playground, WaterSplash, Wonder, Youth Nation, Yow Now Free, and Yuriworld.
Sometimes, a grid changes its loginURI or website address — if that’s the case, email us and let us know and we’ll update our database.
Top 40 grids by land area
The list below is a small subset of existing OpenSim grids. We are now tracking a total of 2,619 different publicly-accessible grids, 430 of which were active this month, and 270 of which published their statistics.
All region counts on this list are, whenever available, in terms of standard region equivalents. Active user counts include hypergrid visitors whenever possible.
Many school, company, or personal grids do not publish their numbers.
The raw data for this month’s report is here. A list of all active grids is here. And here is a list of all the hypergrid-enabled grids and their hypergrid addresses, sorted by popularity. This is very useful if you are creating a hyperport.
You can see all the historical OpenSim statistics here, including polls and surveys, dating all the way back to 2009.
- OSgrid: 29,770 regions
- Wolf Territories Grid: 25,504 regions
- Kitely: 18,301 regions
- ZetaWorlds: 10,386 regions
- Alternate Metaverse: 9,949 regions
- Discovery Grid: 5,361 regions
- Groovy Verse: 4,432 regions
- DigiWorldz: 3,583 regions
- TheKaz Grid: 2,110 regions
- Tag Grid: 1,480 regions
- German World Grid: 1,222 regions
- Shoalwater Bay: 960 regions
- GBG World: 950 regions
- Virtual Worlds Grid: 916 regions
- 3rd Rock Grid: 875 regions
- AviWorlds: 836 regions
- Kinky Haven: 653 regions
- Piggy Bank Grid World: 626 regions
- ArtDestiny: 625 regions
- Tomi’s World: 625 regions
- Littlefield: 502 regions
- Furry World: 473 regions
- GorGrid: 428 regions
- 4Creative: 413 regions
- Craft World: 396 regions
- DreamNation: 381 regions
- AvatarLife: 337 regions
- Nemesis 3D: 305 regions
- EdMondo: 294 regions
- Neverworld: 268 regions
- Open Virtual Worlds: 241 regions
- Soul Grid: 240 regions
- AviTron: 209 regions
- Counter Earth: 189 regions
- Adreans-World: 164 regions
- Outworldz: 154 regions
- MisFitz Grid: 149 regions
- Japan Open Grid: 144 regions
- German World: 144 regions
- GerGrid: 140 regions
Do you know of any other grids that are open to the public but that we don’t have in our database? Email me at david@hypergridbusiness.com.
