Second Life

VS

Last Epoch

Second Life is a long-running sandbox virtual world released in 2003 by Linden Research. Its mainstream popularity peaked in the late 2000s, but it retains a loyal user base thanks to its unique user-created content and social interaction. It is still supported and receives regular updates, but its daily player base is much smaller than during its peak years. Current estimates place its daily active users in the tens of thousands.

Last Epoch is an action RPG released in early 2024, developed by Eleventh Hour Games. It has received strong attention from the ARPG community, especially in the wake of Diablo IV's mixed reception. Daily player count is estimated around 70,000 based on Steam charts peaks and genre trends for new, well-received indie ARPGs. Continued post-launch content could sustain or grow this. It is not an MMO, as it does not feature a true persistent world or large-scale multiplayer environments—multiplayer is limited to smaller parties.