Match Group, the company behind the popular dating app Tinder, has temporarily decided to halt any significant investments in the Metaverse. Tinder has announced a series of decisions, including shifting its attention away from the Metaverse and crypto asset sectors. The firm also plans to drop its Tinder coin launch and Metaverse-based dating. The decisions were made amid disappointing second-quarter earnings. Additionally, Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg, who joined Tinder less than a year ago, left the company.
Tinder kills its dating-metaverse ambitions
In a publicly issued second-quarter letter to shareholders, Match Group CEO Bernard Kim expressed his frustration with Tinder’s current performance as Tinder’s shares were down by 22%. Match Group also stated that its acquisition of Hyperconnect led to an overall loss of $10 million, and Tinder’s earnings did not meet analysts’ expectations for the second quarter. Kim admitted the potential of Metaverse-based dating and its experience could attract the next generation of users. However, he also mentioned Metaverse’s uncertainties in its offerings’ real-use and adoption rate, citing this as the reason for dropping its Web3 plans.
Kim said, “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 also noted, “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.”
Tinder recently invested in a Metaverse project, “Tinderverse,” after a proposal by its executive team. Its implementations were rooted after the company acquired a Seoul-based video AI and augmented reality firm, Hyperconnect, in 2021.
No more swiping with Tinder coins
Besides scaling back its Metaverse plans, Tinder is also dropping its plans on in-app currency “Tinder coins.” Tinder coins were developed to support and boost the company’s revenue figures of purchases such as subscriptions, super likes and boost functions. The project underwent a pilot testing program in Australia and was set for a global launch this quarter, but the project is now suspended until further announcement.
Elaborating on this, Kim said, “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. We also intend to do more thinking about virtual goods to ensure that they can be a real driver for Tinder’s next leg of growth and help us unlock the untapped power users on the platform.”
Furthermore, the company promised its planning to develop such features which will make Tinder more appealing to women, including a subscription-based package that will provide “curated recommendations” as well as specifications designed to get friends involved in introductions. Tinder will also search for new features, like live streaming video, among other products, to drive adoption.
Tinder CEO’s sudden departure
Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg recently left her job after less than a year. However, shareholders were assured that four executives from Tinder’s team would oversee the operation under the guidance of Match Group CEO Bernard Kim until a permanent replacement is found. In the second quarter, Match Group made a revenue of $795 million, surging by 12%, but below analysts’ expectations of $804 million.
As for Tinder, Kim shared his positiveness regarding its change of CEO and a step-back from nascent digital technologies as it will ultimately lead to “improved product execution and velocity, monetization wins and enhanced user growth.”
