(* Source: Dan Taylor *) 

A great round up by Dan... 

If you relied solely on the mainstream media for your knowledge of online trends (more fool you), you'd be forgiven for thinking there was only one virtual world. Second Life has hoovered up huge swathes of column inches and airtime over the past 12 months (see earlier post on the Second Life media frenzy) with only the occasional nod to World of Warcraft or Habbo Hotel.

However, there's much more to virtual worlds than Second Life. Immersive online environments are a huge growth area, as demonstrated by the below round-up of 50 virtual worlds, ranked by approximate user numbers (with a few, for which I couldn't source viable user data, tacked on the end). It's worth stating that the approximate user figures are just that: approximate. Gleaned from a wide range of different sources, they are mostly self-reported and cover a multitude of differing definitions. I've tried to reconcile the figures wherever possible to try and reflect number of active users rather than number of avatars or visitors to the website, although many will still be way off base.

In terms of trends, the kids market appears to be a significant growth area and that's without including avatar chat sites (e.g. IMVU, Zwinktopia) or the growing legion of pet/doll sites (e.g. NeoPets, GoPets, MyePets, Be-Bratz, Stardoll).

	World of Warcraft http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ Blizzard Entertainment Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 9m
	Habbo Hotel http://www.habbo.com/ Sulake Launched: 2000 Approximate no. of users: 7.5m
	Nicktropolis http://www.nick.com/nicktropolis/ Nickelodeon Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 5.1m
	Runescape http://www.runescape.com/ Jagex Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 5m
	Club Penguin http://www.clubpenguin.com/ New Horizon Interactive / Disney Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Knight Online http://www.knightonlineworld.com/ MGame Corporation / Noah System Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Barbie Girls http://www.barbiegirls.com/ Mattel Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Coke Studios http://www.mycoke.com/ Studiocom / The Coca-Cola Company Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Gaia Online http://www.gaiaonline.com/ Gaia Interactive Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 3.5m
	MapleStory http://www.maplestory.com/ Wizet / Nexon Launched: 1999 Approximate no. of users: 3m
	Dofus http://www.dofus.com/ Ankama Games Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 3m
	Guild Wars http://www.guildwars.com/ NCsoft Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 2m
	Whyville http://www.whyville.net/ Numedeon Launched: 1999 Approximate no. of users: 1.7m
	Second Life http://secondlife.com/ Linden Lab Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 1.5m
	Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom http://vmk.disney.go.com/ Sulake Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 1.4m
	Disney's Toontown http://play.toontown.com/ Disney Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 1.2m
	Mokitown http://www.mobile-kids.net/ Neue Digitale / Daimler Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 1.1m
	Lineage / Lineage II http://www.lineage.com/ NCsoft Launched: 1998 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	There http://www.there.com/ Makena Technologies Launched: 1998 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	BOTS http://bots.acclaim.com/ Acclaim Games Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	Webkinz World http://www.webkinz.com/ Ganz Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	AlphaWorld http://www.activeworlds.com/ Active Worlds Launched: 1997 Approximate no. of users: 900,000
	Entropia Universe http://www.entropiauniverse.com/ MindArk Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 600,000
	Virtual MTV http://www.vmtv.com/ Makena Technologies Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 600,000
	Virtual World of Kaneva http://www.kaneva.com/ Kaneva Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 600,000
	Final Fantasy XI: Online http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/ Square Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	EverQuest / EverQuest II http://everquest.station.sony.com/ Sony Online Entertainment Launched: 1999 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Faketown http://www.faketown.com/ Identity Play Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Dubit http://www.dubitchat.com/ Dubit Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Cybertown http://www.cybertown.com/ Integrated Virtual Networks Launched: 1995 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Playdo http://beta.playdo.com/ Playdo Launched: 2000 Approximate no. of users: 400,000
	Eve Online http://www.eve-online.com/ CCP Games Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates http://www.puzzlepirates.com/ Three Rings Design / Ubisoft Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar http://www.lotro.com/ Turbine, Inc. Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	Star Wars Galaxies http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/ LucasArts Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	City of Heroes / City of Villains http://uk.cityofheroes.com/ Cryptic Studios / NCsoft Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 180,000
	vSide http://www.vside.com/ Doppelganger Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 150,000
	Ultima Online http://www.uo.com/ Electronic Arts Launched: 1997 Approximate no. of users: 135,000
	Dark Age of Camelot http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/ Mythic Entertainment / Electronic Arts Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 125,000
	The Sims Online http://www.ea.com/official/thesims/thesimsonline/ Maxis / Electronic Arts Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: 100,000
	Xivio http://www.xivio.com/ Xivio Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 22,000
	citypixel http://www.citypixel.com/ citypixel Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 20,000
	Teen Second Life http://teen.secondlife.com/ Linden Lab Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 5,000
	Westward Journey II / Fantasy Westward Journey http://corp.163.com/eng/games/westward_journey.html NetEase Launched: 2002 / 2004 Approximate no. of users: ??
	Scions of Fate (Yulgang) http://fate.netgame.com/ KRGsoft Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: ??
	Legend of Mir II / Legend of Mir III http://www.legendofmir.net/ WeMade Entertainment / ActozSoft Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: ??
	MU Online http://globalmuonline.com/ Webzen / K2 Network Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: ??
	HiPiHi http://www.hipihi.com/index_english.html HiPiHi Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: ??
	GalaXseeds http://www.galaxseeds.com/ Frima Studios / Corus Entertainment Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: ??
	Virtual Ibiza http://www.virtualibiza.com/ Lightmaker Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: ??