Match Group is taking the dating app experience to the next level by testing a new “metaverse” where users can create avatars that interact with each other over the app.

According to Tech Crunch, news of these plans came during the company’s third quarter earnings call, where despite performing below expectations, executives were upbeat and looking toward the long-term future of its dating apps by harnessing this technology.

Match Group CEO Shar Dubey noted in the call that Hyperconnect, a social discovery platform the company purchased earlier this year, was testing the avatar-based dating experience dubbed “Single Town,” where users interact in real time as they meet in virtual spaces (like a bar) and have live audio conversations. If two users express interest in each other (via their avatars), they can choose to continue their conversations through messaging. Eventually, the company plans to leverage the technology across their dating apps.

This month, Tinder launches the second season of its wildly popular in-app interactive series Swipe Night. The premise is a murder mystery, and participants are expected to guess who did it each week as the clues are revealed. 

The first season brought in over 20 million viewers worldwide for a choose-your-own-adventure style story, where viewers selected what they would do along the way, which led them to different outcomes. This time, according to Tech Crunch, users will watch the same mystery unfold, but they will be able to search rooms and examine objects for clues to draw their own conclusions. 

The series is live on the app from 6pm EST to 12:00am beginning Sunday, November 7th, and Tinder will continue to air new episodes each Sunday at the same time through November 21st, according to the company’s website. 

The emails at the heart of the case against Match Group and IAC have been revealed, just prior to the trial which is set to begin in November. Former Tinder CEO Greg Blatt was accused by former Tinder employees, including founder Sean Rad, of undervaluing Tinder’s worth to cheat them out of billions of dollars in stock options. 

According to The Daily Mail, emails revealed that Blatt valued the dating app at nearly $12 billion in 2016, more than a year before Match Group valued Tinder at only $3 billion as Sean Rad and other employees were forced to exit the company. Rad and the other plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit claim Blatt purposefully devalued the stock in their negotiations, citing the emails as evidence. 

Match Group owns dating app Tinder, and they along with IAC are the defendants in the lawsuit.

Audio-focused dating app Heart to Heart, created by former TikTok product and operations lead Joshua Ogundu, raised $750,000 in seed money towards its launch goal.

The funding was initiated by Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures, according to dot.LA. The seed money will go toward research and development of the app, which is expected to launch in beta form for iOS users by the end of the year.

Ogundu first came up with the idea because of audio-based social media platform Clubhouse’s popular speed dating rooms. Seeing an opportunity for audio connection in a dating app, he took to Twitter to find engineers to make Heart to Heart possible. Twitter now offers live audio group chats along with Clubhouse, and demand is still growing. Podcasts have persisted in being widely popular, paving the way for other audio applications.

Hinge announced that it will be adding audio features to its dating app, including audio messages and audio clips for profiles. In addition, the company is creating more flexibility in searches for LGBTQ daters.

The audio messages feature will allow users to record and send audio clips to their matches, another way of getting to know someone outside of sending photos or text messages. Users will also be able to record audio to add to their profiles, so prospective matches can get a more complete picture of who they are.

At the same time, Hinge announced the addition of more features for LGBTQ users, including an update to its algorithm to add a non-binary gender category for users to search and find dates. Many dating apps offer profile features for non-binary users to identify themselves, but users haven’t had the ability to search for matches outside of self-identified “men” or “women.”

Image: tinder

Tinder has announced another new feature aimed at helping singles during wedding season: Plus One.

According to the company’s press release, users are now able to enlist in the Plus One option to let other Tinder users know they are looking for a date to a wedding (or that they are willing to be a plus one for someone else). Plus One is found in the new Explore section of the app, where most of Tinder’s newest features can be found.

The dating app company is also trying to incentivize people to use Plus One, offering the first 100 eligible Tinder users who join $460 to cover the cost of wedding expenses, which can add up quickly. The money can go towards travel, lodging, or even a gift for the happy couple. Tinder partnered with online wedding resource company WeddingWire, who suggested the prize money based on the average amount people spend to attend a wedding.