If there are other civilizations out there, I think we’re more likely to be visited by super-intelligent AI than we are to meet their creators. Think of a small sentient spaceship going the speed of light with a million IQ hive of replicators on board. They wouldn’t have to bother about life preservation or oxygen or any of that noise. Their creator species would stay in their galaxy until their AI finds another ideal planet to colonize, or they could be dead and their legacy lives on in the AI. The existence of extraordinarily compelling virtual worlds wouldn’t have much of an impact in my opinion.