Driven by ambitious plans, the project “ Tinderverse », named in reference to the metaverse, now has the lead in the wing and its ambitions are scaled back by the parent company Match Group. The project aimed to promote dating using his avatar in the metaverse.
There is also a change in the organization of Tinder. The CEO, Rynate Nyborg, who took up the post last September, announces his departure. A statement casts doubt on the reasons for his resignation.
Disappointing results for Tinder
In 2021, Match Group acquired Hyperconnect, a Korean start-up specializing in virtual reality, video and artificial intelligence, for a whopping $1.73 billion. The company would have acted as a spearhead for Tinder in its conquest of the metaverse.
Hyperconnect posted a loss of $10 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to a gain of $220 million in the same period a year earlier. Disappointing results for the firm.
This context prompted Bernard Kim, CEO of Match Group, to take new measures concerning this company:
“ Given the uncertainty as to the ultimate contours of the metaverse and what will or will not work, as well as the more challenging operating environment, I asked the Hyperconnect team to iterate, but not invest heavily in the metaverse at the moment. »
Failures are piling up for Tinder
In addition to the loss of Rynate Nyborg and this forced reversal of position concerning the metaverse, Tinder suffered a new failure with the cessation of development of the “Tinder Coin”.
This initiative was introduced by the firm in order to encourage its users to spend a little more on the application, with a currency offered to the most active users who could then exchange it for premium features. The Tinder Coin could also be purchased directly from the app.
A project that has not proven itself according to the words of Bernard Kim:
” After seeing mixed results when testing Tinder Coin, we decided to take a step back and re-examine this initiative so that it can contribute more effectively to Tinder revenue. »
Source : Engadget
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