Tinder Is Left Without Metaverse 

Amid a disappointing set of last quarter earnings, Match Group announced it is scaling back Tinder’s metaverse dating ambitions and ditching plans to offer Tinder Coins in the app.

Match posted a loss of $31.86 million against a profit a year earlier.  Revenue rose to $794.5 million from $707.8 million a year ago, but fell short of analysts’ estimates.

The main reason for the unexpected loss was a write-off of $217 million on the acquisition of Hyperconnect, an Asian dating company that is trying to integrate “metaverse” features.  Match paid more than $1.7 billion for the company last year, but new CEO Bernard Kim said he would slow growth and spending.

“After seeing the mixed results from testing Tinder Coins, we have decided to take a step back and re-evaluate the initiative so that it can more effectively increase Tinder’s revenue,” Kim said in the letter. “We also intend to think more about virtual goods to make sure they can be a real driver of Tinder’s next growth phase.”