There are MMORPGs that have been online for decades, although very few players still visit the servers – if at all. A YouTuber has now helped to revive a long-forgotten online role-playing game from 1999.
What kind of game is this? Dark Ages is an old-school MMORPG released in 1999 by Nexon and KRU Interactive. While the original version of the fantasy world is based on Celtic mythology, developer David Ethan Kennerly also incorporated elements of cosmic horror from H. P. Lovecraft into the American version of the MMO.
At a time when genre milestones like Ultima Online, Tibia, EverQuest, RuneScape, and Dark Age of Camelot have shaped the MMO landscape, Dark Ages never achieved massive success. Like many games of its time, Dark Ages relied on an economy and a political environment driven by the community.
Despite the strong competition and the time since launch, the servers remain online to this day and are accessible at darkages.com. The game is free-to-play, with an item shop and optional subscription.
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A viral video brings a third spring
Who triggered the revival? Three months ago, YouTuber Bind stumbled upon the old MMO. The goal of the 30-day visit: To see if anyone still plays Dark Ages after all these years. A few posts on community platforms like Reddit explained that the game was practically dead.
In the game, this was initially confirmed… Bind found himself completely alone in the old-school pixel world. It took a while before he finally encountered two other players. They explained to him that low-level characters had become a real rarity and that there were only a few veterans who logged in somewhat regularly. Perhaps just a handful.
Bind stated that he wanted to do his best to revive Dark Ages. Whether he was serious at that time is unclear.
Nevertheless, the 30-day adventure in Dark Ages gained significant attention, even if no major changes in player numbers could be observed during that time. However, more than 3.8 million interested viewers have now seen Bind’s video… and a new update from the YouTuber shows that much has happened in recent months.
On the one hand, Bind’s channel exploded from 15,000 to over 100,000 subscribers. On the other hand, increasingly more new players ventured onto the servers of Dark Ages. Many veterans returned to the MMO as well.
In fact, it suddenly became so lively that the developers – who had long been in passive maintenance mode – had to take a more active role again. There were suddenly updates that addressed issues for beginners, and new events that managed to lure hundreds of characters for the first time in many years.
You can watch the new video from Bind in full length below:
How does the community react to the revival? Under both videos, there are many heartwarming comments thanking Bind for his project. Among them is also the previously mentioned David Ethan Kennerly and the current developers.
- David Ethan Kennerly writes on YouTube: “In August 1999, Nexon released Dark Ages. In August 2025, you have won the heart of its caring community. Your exquisite video filled me with gratitude and brought back memories of the founding of our player-led community. I was moved to tears. This heartfelt tribute honors every caring mentor.”
- The developers of Dark Ages comment on YouTube: “It has been a wild ride, as so many new and returning players have energized our community. […] Rumor has it that the community is asking for a tribute in your honor in the game. We are working on it.”
- iancolman1411 celebrates on YouTube: “An expired game explored and a community found – the best way to use the internet.”
This is not the first time a YouTuber has helped to suddenly give a supposedly dead online game a kind of third spring. In April 2025, it was globert who managed to do just that with “There.com”: YouTuber wants to revive an online game with 0 players – 7.5 million people are watching, including the grateful developer
