VR Dating: Ready for dating in the metaverse world?

Metaverse is the latest tech buzzword that has been dominating headlines since the beginning of this year. Just yesterday, Facebook announced the plan to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to build a “metaverse.”

What is metaverse really? The term “metaverse,” was originally coined in the 1992 dystopian novel “Snow Crash.” It’s used to describe immersive, shared spaces accessed across different platforms where the physical and digital converge. It is a virtual reality version of the internet that Facebook sees as the future. The metaverse has many use cases.

For example, the technology might be used to allow someone to don virtual reality glasses that make it feel as if they’re face-to-face with a friend — when in fact they are thousands of miles apart and connected via the internet.

“The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social, and economic opportunities. And Europeans will be shaping it right from the start,” Facebook said in a blog post.

However, earlier this year even before Facebook made headlines, a small startup called FireFlare Games quietly announced they were creating the first virtual reality dating app, Planet Theta. The app did not get the wall-to-wall news coverage that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement about his metaverse vision. If history is any guide, Planet Theta’s focus on VR dating may actually be the cheat code needed to the mainstream, and thereby help realize Zuckerberg’s Metaverse.

Many argue 1995 was the year that the internet became relevant. Netscape became the first popular internet browser in 1995. It was the year that eBay made its first sales. Craigslist was founded. 1995 was also the year that Match publicly released its open beta, making it the first internet dating website.

The allure of internet dating was the first compelling reason to use the internet for millions of people. When Match and a shortlist of others got involved, the internet was a space dedicated almost exclusively to fringe audiences. It was the beginning of mainstream markets entering the internet. Netscape was the first to make it easy to dial into the internet and access websites like Match, Craigslist, eBay, and others. It was the growth of these websites that made it possible for the internet to evolve into what we have today.

Less than a generation later, the internet is dominated by commerce and social media interactions. In 2020 the Pew Research Center wrote that “online dating has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry serving customers around the world.” These industries have become global economic titans. Amazon, Facebook, and Match built the modern internet by feeding the demand for shopping, social interactions and dating.

Virtual reality headsets are mainly being used by gamers and to hang out in chat rooms that significantly resemble the Wild West bulletin boards from the early internet. Planet Theta is the first VR dating app. Its focus on dating will give millions of people around the world their first compelling reason to access the metaverse. The metaverse needs Planet Theta to succeed.

The internet is evolving into the metaverse and it will be driven by commerce, social interactions and dating. Dating on Planet Theta will create a unique demand to enter the metaverse. VR dating is an explosive market and Planet Theta is leading the way.

FireFlare Games is a virtual reality development studio creating Planet Theta with talented artists and developers from all over the world.