You can still play 1.8.8 in 2025:
Even years after its release, many of the world's largest servers, such as Hypixel , still support or natively run on 1.8.8 architecture. Minecraft1.8.8
– Large servers saw reduced CPU usage when handling thousands of incoming "ping" requests from server lists. You can still play 1
The update famously patched the "God Apple" duping glitch and several chunk-loading exploits that allowed griefers to crash servers. For the first time, vanilla 1.8.8 felt "hacker-proof" enough for competitive play. many of the world's largest servers