In a recent chat with New World Notes readers about the future of Second Life, many wondered whatever became of IMVU, the 3D chat-based world that once was seen by some as rival to SL itself — and by others as a low-end version of the metaverse.
Let me tell you what's happened with IMVU over the last few years and since you last likely thought about it, if ever at all.
IMVU has become massive in just about every sense:
It has 7 million monthly active users.
And 1.2 million daily active users.
And a peak daily concurrency of 140,000 users.
And peak average daily concurrency of 120,000 users.
These numbers, as any regular reader will tell you, far outstrip any peak metric Second Life has ever achieved, in recent times with about 600,000 to 900,000 monthly users (depending how you define a "user"), and a peak concurrency that's never exceeded the mid-five figures.
It's also massive in terms of company revenue: According to App Annie, it's a top grossing app right behind the white hot video sharing app TikTok (see attached pic below).
It's also massive in terms of a virtual marketplace, with 50 million items in the catalog, made by 50,000 active creators.
Yes, IMVU added Adult-rated content in 2014 — but no, that's not why it's grown so large:
