Tinder Steps Back From Metaverse Dating Plans As Business Falters (theverge.com) 28
Amidst a disappointing set of earnings for the last quarter, Match Group has announced it's scaling back Tinder's metaverse dating ambitions and scrapping plans to offer an in-app Tinder Coins currency. The Verge reports: Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg, who became the dating app's first female CEO just last September, is also leaving the position, parent company Match Group's CEO Bernard Kim announced. Kim himself was named as CEO just two months ago. Nyborg previously set out ambitious plans for Tinder's take on the metaverse (or "Tinderverse" as she called it). Tinder acquired a company called Hyperconnect last year, which focuses on video, AI, and augmented reality technology, and Nyborg later cited its avatar-based "Single Town" experience as a way Tinder's users might one day be able to meet and interact with one another in virtual spaces, TechCrunch reported at the time.
Now, however, Kim says he's instructed Hyperconnect to scale back. "Given uncertainty about the ultimate contours of the metaverse and what will or won't work, as well as the more challenging operating environment, I've instructed the Hyperconnect team to iterate but not invest heavily in metaverse at this time," Kim said. "We'll continue to evaluate this space carefully, and we will consider moving forward at the appropriate time when we have more clarity on the overall opportunity and feel we have a service that is well-positioned to succeed." Match Group cited the acquisition of Hyperconnect as contributing to a $10 million operating loss in the second quarter of 2022, down from operating income of $210 million in the same quarter last year.
Now, however, Kim says he's instructed Hyperconnect to scale back. "Given uncertainty about the ultimate contours of the metaverse and what will or won't work, as well as the more challenging operating environment, I've instructed the Hyperconnect team to iterate but not invest heavily in metaverse at this time," Kim said. "We'll continue to evaluate this space carefully, and we will consider moving forward at the appropriate time when we have more clarity on the overall opportunity and feel we have a service that is well-positioned to succeed." Match Group cited the acquisition of Hyperconnect as contributing to a $10 million operating loss in the second quarter of 2022, down from operating income of $210 million in the same quarter last year.
It's because (Score:1)
getting e-dumped gets old quick.
Who? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Its good to have a dream.
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YEEESSSSSSS!
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Who is asking for this?
Romance scammers?
With that attitude.... (Score:2)
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you'll never be the first guy to send a 3d dick on tinder.
But you have a good chance on grindr
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Who is asking for this?
Last time I called the current generation of VR tech "a glorified television strapped to your face", a few fans had to tell me how wrong I was because of a few very specific use cases. Yeah, it has some niche appeal, but for the average person, gaming on an ordinary television/monitor/tablet/smartphone is entertaining enough and buying a dedicated device for VR is still a lousy value proposition.
One of my friends who earns a way better living than I do has an Oculus, he rarely uses it. I tried it and was
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I can remember having the same conversations about 3D TV at one point, and now I doubt if I could find one to buy.
The following points are all true (Score:2)
* VR is great fun, novel experience, even good exercise, great for feeling connected if you're stuck home alone.
* It will never take over entertainment.
* Metaverse is the stupidest thing, like NFTs but dumber.
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Who is asking for this?
FUFME peripheral owners, presumably. This is what they've been waiting for the whole time.
Finally some answers (Score:1)
on why Tinder pushed the Dutch government so aggressively to stop Apple to collect the App Store tax. They are heading towards bankruptcy by themselves, so now they have a way to last longer (without needing Viagra).
Metaverse, metaverse, metaverse.. (Score:2)
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Metaverse is a dumb gimmick like Web 3.0 at the moment.
Agreed. I'm also not sure how quickly the 60 year olds who use Facebook will adapt to VR.
Tinder is already a land of swirling dumpster fires, lies, and fakeness.
We have had different experiences. Maybe increase your filtering skills?
Apparently, 80% of men have an awful experience on dating apps and essentially don't get dates. The other 20% are divided into can get a date if they put in some effort and are as popular on the dating app as women and get hundreds of women asking if they are interested in meeting.
it's now certain the metaverse will fail (Score:3)
Re:it's now certain the metaverse will fail (Score:5, Funny)
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What are the people with the most money doing? (Score:1)
Let's do that.
Regards,
Agile, whiteboard interviews, leetcode, metaverse
Tinder users are too low effort for gamification (Score:5, Insightful)
Tinder's business model is based on users being unwilling to spend the time to write or read profiles. Do you expect women (because women are the limiter) to spend $$$ on a VR setup and slowly navigate a virtual world to find their match?
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Those are crucial points. Then again, we don't know how many users pay to use the "premium" features.
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There is a simple solution to that: bots.
Most dating sites are full of them already. Now all they need is a groin attachment for their VR system.
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Tinder's business model is based on users being unwilling to spend the time to write or read profiles. Do you expect women (because women are the limiter) to spend $$$ on a VR setup and slowly navigate a virtual world to find their match?
How else could they appreciate the vastness of my NFT collection?
Couldn't handle the competition (Score:2)
If virtual gratification were a thing, then pornhub et al would certainly have blazed the trial by now. This is perhaps encouraging news that the dweebs on tinder still actually want to meet people and not just masturbate with a VR headset on.
But, if a market for this ever did appear, Match group wouldn't stand a chance against the "pros".
There is no "Metaverse" (Score:2)
There's no Metaverse; it's just a bunch of tech idiots trying to find more ways for people to check out of real life. The "metaverse" is not going to happen, and if it does it won't without major leaps in technology. Who wants to sit around with a f-ing VR headset on? They're cool for about 15 minutes, and then they're boring. Right now everyone is acting like making a VR version of Second Life is somehow going to be groundbreaking. No one cares. Not only does no one want this, but no one is going to want t
Another Exmple of a Company Spreading Out Too Soon (Score:2)
They really need to make their app work. Like when you say you're interested in men and you get the profiles of women presented to you and vice versa. Or how when you swipe left on a profile only to have it served back up to you after five more swipes.