Torn RPG surpasses 100,000 daily players after 22 years of growth

• Growth was driven by infrastructure upgrades and expanded marketing efforts.
• Torn continues to thrive despite operating in a niche text-based format.
• Over 30,000 new players joined the game in the past year.

Torn has surpassed 100,000 daily active players for the first time in its 22-year history, a major milestone for one of the industry’s longest-running online games.

The browser-based crime RPG confirmed the record, more than doubling its daily active player count from 48,515 in January 2024. 

Torn Ltd founder Joe Chedburn attributed the growth to improvements across the game’s infrastructure, which allowed it to scale, while new advertising and PR strategies have brought in a wave of fresh players.

The developer claimed its player base continues to expand, with more than 30,000 new users joining in the past year alone.

Breaking barriers 

Launched in 2004 as a small PHP project, Torn has evolved into a globally operated title supported by a team of around 50 developers across multiple regions. 

“Since our launch in 2004, our Daily Active Players counter has been the primary metric we've used to assess the health of TORN's playerbase," said Chedburn. “Breaking the five-digit barrier on the login page counter has been a dream of mine for a very long time, one I genuinely never thought was possible.

“This incredible growth was made possible by two initiatives. First, we worked hard to increase Torn's capacity to host more players through widespread optimisation across our infrastructure and codebase. 

“Second, we pushed our advertising and PR campaigns in multiple new directions. Thankfully, we've been successful on both counts. Torn is faster than it has ever been, despite the vast increase in our playerbase, and for the first time in two decades we are seeing significant, sustained growth."