Yes, many io games do have real players. However, due to the sheer number of IO games available and the challenge of maintaining active player bases for all of them, some games have implemented bots to populate their servers. These bots help to keep the games active and engaging by filling in gaps when there aren't enough real players available to play. Bots can simulate real player behavior to some extent, but they are not as unpredictable or challenging as human players. The use of bots varies from game to game, and some IO games rely more heavily on bots than others to maintain activity levels.