How would people behave if the world were about to end? To explore this impossible question, researchers turned to the online role-playing game, “ArcheAge”, using it as a digital stand-in for the apocalypse.

Scientists from the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York, conducted an 11-week beta test, giving players advance notice that the game’s servers, and all their progress, would be permanently deleted at the experiment’s conclusion.

The UB team analysed over 270 million anonymised records of player activity, including data on levelling up and players’ quests, to track behavioural changes as the “end” approached.

They expected chaos, but found the opposite: Most players remained peaceful, with only a few outliers turning to violence or antisocial behaviour. Instead of rioting, players talked and socialised more, forming new friendships and strengthening existing ones.

Interestingly, many gave up on long-term goals like questing or character development. As study member Jeremy Blackburn noted: “People don’t really go off the deep end, they just stop worrying about the future.”

The findings challenge the popular notion that morality collapses under apocalyptic pressure. Rather than rampant destruction, the “end times” of the online game saw increased co-operation and community spirit.

While experts such as Dmitri Williams of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles caution that virtual behaviour doesn’t always mirror reality, they agree that such worlds provide valuable insight into human psychology.

Future studies may use the complex in-game justice system of “ArcheAge” to explore ethics, punishment and law when society – virtual or otherwise – is on the brink.