Is the future of dating in the metaverse?
Match group, the parent company of Tinder, Match, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish, among other dating apps thinks so.
In their fourth quarter earnings call, the online dating behemoth provided a glimpse into their future. The company believes the metaverse will offer a unique opportunity for people to make ‘meaningful connections’, in a different way from the now ubiquitous swiping right or left.
“Now, the technology that is relevant to our world is the one that allows us to create experiences online where people can meet each other, discover each other more serendipitously and real time through shared experiences in a way that is more akin to how they would do in real life”
Shar Dube, CEO Match Group
Match wants to positions its popular properties like Tinder, as some sort of virtual club, where singles can mingle and talk to each other in real time. Users can even tap on other people’s avatars to check out their profiles, and even send messages to them.
This push into the metaverse is not an empty promise by Match Group. The company has already made big investments, key among them the $1.725 billion acquisition of Hyperconnect last year.
Hyperconnect is a South Korean company that operates social discovery apps like Hakuna Live, which already provides avatar-based streaming in Asia.
That acquisition saved Match Group tons of time and money required to build its own metaverse technology from scratch.
