First Second Life Grid Statistics Update For 2017

Daniel Voyager

Weekly net change in number of regions since 3rd January 2016

On 2rd January 2017 Tyche Shepherd posted up the first grid statistics update for 2017 via the SLUniverse Forums. I was hoping for something more positive this year to reflect on.

Tyche mentioned in the forum thread that 2016 saw a slow decline in private estate regions in Second Life with surprising small growth for Linden Owned regions (+109 regions). The total net loss for 2016 was much higher than 2015 was in terms of net losses.

So another year gone and another year of a slow decline in private estate regions – total net loss for 2016 was 992 (5.6% down on the beginning of the year) – higher than 2015’s net loss of 825 regions(4.4% down). Overall the whole grid was down by 884 regions, the drop in private estates mitigated by a smaller growth in Linden Owned regions (+109 regions)

As you can see from the graph above for 2016 almost every week there were region losses with only a handful of weeks where there was small positive net growth for private estates. To be honest it was a bad year for region losses during 2016 and I really hope 2017 will not end the same way.

2015 vs 2016 Total Net Loss Comparison

Total net loss for 2016

  • 992 regions down
  • 5.6% down since the beginning of 2016

Total net loss for 2015

  • 825 regions down
  • 4.4% down since the beginning of 2015

2016 Vs 2017 Main Grid Regions Comparison

On 3rd January 2016

  • Total number of Main Grid regions: 24, 886
  • Private Estates: 17, 775 
  • Linden Owned: 7, 111

As of 1st January 2017

  • Total number of Main Grid regions: 24, 002
  • Private Estates: 16, 783 
  • Linden Owned: 7, 219

Sansar 2017 Impact

As many know already Sansar will open to the public sometime during January 2017 and the big question is will Sansar have any impact of the Second Life grid region numbers during 2017? or will it continue to go steady this year ?.

The lab needs to come up with workable solutions to stop the decline happening because 2016 saw a huge loss in regions. For many land pricing is one of the top concerns residents have right now.

I would love to know what you think about this in the comments section below.

My next update on Second Life statistics will be published in March 2017 and I will be keeping a closer on Sansar to see how that impacts the numbers in the weeks/months ahead.

Hopefully there will be more region growth in Second Life during 2017 and it will be great to see more great improvements made to Second Life to make it even better.

Useful Links To Keep Track of Second Life 2017 Statistics

17 thoughts on “First Second Life Grid Statistics Update For 2017”

  1. My statistics are very informal. They are just observing the number of people signed onto SL when I sign on. I usual sign on sevearl times a day. Generally the trend is the same. There was a slow loss of concurrent users during 2015. During 2016 that slow loss of concurrent users accelerated.

    I’m not sure how much effect Sansar will have. I know that most of the SL users I know are curious about Sansar but it does not seem to appeal to SL users as a long time interest. My feeling is unless the lab makes substantial improvements as well as reducing tier costs this slow decline of users in SL will continue and accelerate over time.

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    1. Thanks Willow.

      I’ve been in Second Life for over 10 years and it’s a shame so many interesting regions/places have gone.

      I’ve noticed that trend with fewer concurrent users in recent years. Lowering the tier costs could help and the lab really needs to do something this year or else the grid will drop another 900-1000 regions etc.

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      1. I agree! The lab needs to reduce tier costs and improve new SL user experience or SL will continue its slow decline in concurrent users. My question is with the “glamor” of the new Sansar will the lab really do something with SL or will it let SL wither away. Time will tell but I”m concerned.

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    2. Hi, i was in secondlife since 2007. I think the problem is not that it´s too expansive. i think the true problem is the shopping experience. Earlier in 2007 you must search for items,products in secondlife by yourself like all other people. So there were many avatars overall and this means there was high life and activities. now you only search the store and not must search inworld anymore ,and so now many peoples are living in private zones with less visitors and more private fences. there is no life activities like earlier. secondlife looks like an private land experience where most users live and work alone or only with few peoples. there is no high life activities like ealier, and this is the problem why many leave secondlife. its too quite, Ealier everyone i know offers on their places stuff for selling, and when you want to get great new items or products you must search for it inworld. Since the marketplace opens more and more users has left secondlife. It´s not why its too expensive. The most interest thing in secondlife was too search for hot fantastic items, products and services! Now you can search online on marketplace, there is no need to visit others locations and so there are no interesting activities like before. Many people are running alone inworld and will see and meet only a handfull other avatars. And this will increase, i think. Parties, Events are not enough at last.

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      1. I have seen the same thing, the marketplace made finding things so much easier but the malls and popular shopping sims became ghost towns for the most part. Chat also declined as people asking for and taking about products became an offhand unthinking two word “check marketplace” reply.

        Shopping and marketplace are not the only things though. Anything that takes people off-grid to work on (like mesh and texturing for example) tend to break people out of the immersiveness of the old days of prim construction and in-grid texturing (mostly before viewer 2 came along) and make it more likely that they will leave. For example, I used to spend a lot more time in the game when I mostly roleplayed and explored, when I opened a store and started making clothing and mesh objects which required a lot of time off-grid it somehow diluted the magic of it and I went inworld less and less often.

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      2. I have been in SL since 05 and feel the same and I really miss the pre-market place days. I spent more time in SL and enjoyed it when I had to search in stores for things. I found a lot more than “things” I found interesting people and things to try. Now the majick of being in world is slipping away.

        Sadly the trend seems to be accelerating. It isn’t statically accurate but one thing I see when I sign on is the number of concurrent users. In 2014 it was in the high 40 thousands to low 50 thousands almost any time. The other day had dropped in the mid 30 thousands.:(

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  3. I am developing games in SL and they really would be so much better if I had more land, but I just can’t affort it. It is way too expensive and on top of it, I even have to pay 20% VAT. So what I hope for Sansar is that SL becomes less important revenue-wise, so the Lindens can affort to cut tier at least in half.

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  4. I’ve been an SL user since 2007 and this has been the complaint since then. Too Expensive! I got rid of my Linden land years ago and only pay basic. After I downsized I spent less and less time there. When I had my own land I was always building, socializing & exploring others work. Now, I only check in a couple of times a year. When it comes time to renew in March I’ll go the free route. Linden Labs hasn’t listened in a decade. Good Luck.

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    1. Thanks Lynni.

      That’s sad to hear that and it’s a shame land costs are not cheaper. The lab are trying but they need to step up another gear to resolve the long slow decline happening.

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  7. SL user since 2007, private estate owner since 2009. Tier NEEDS to come down and it needs to come down like yesterday. For me as someone who maintains an estate largely for the use of others, this is something LL must deal with or the decline will accelerate.

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