Tinder metaverse plans crumble as business wavers

Tinder parent Match Group has ditched plans to enter the metaverse, whilst simultaneously scrapping the possibility of in-app “Tinder Coins” currency.

According to The Verge, the news comes amidst a “disappointing set of earnings for the last quarter” for the online dating company.

Tinder CEO, Renate Nyborg, who is soon to leave her position, told Reuters last December of its plan to enter the metaverse – or Tinderverse as she dubbed it – acquiring AI, video and AR firm Hyperconnect to begin the process.

However, Nyborg’s successor, Bernard Kim, has instructed Hyperconnect to scale back. He told The Verge, “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.

“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 reported that Hyperconnect contributed to a $10 million operating loss in the second quarter of 2022, down from an operating income of £210m in the same quarter last year.

Disappointment continued for Tinder as results of soft-launching Tinder Coins – the in-app currency rewarding customers who are active on the site with coins to be accepted as payment for premium Tinder features such as Super Likes – proved to be a “mixed bag”.

“After seeing mixed results from testing Tinder Coins, we’ve decided to take a step back and re-examine that initiative so that it can more effectively contribute to Tinder’s revenue,” he wrote in the earnings release.

It comes amid wider difficulties for cryptocurrencies, which saw massive declines earlier this year.