Dating apps like Tinder and Bumble have grown popular thanks to game-styled features like swiping left and right to match with other users, but one app called Kippo is looking to take its experience up a notch with a dating and social app designed for gamers. The idea’s gotten the startup app $2 million in venture funding from several parties, including some of the same investment partners that got Tinder off the ground.
Profiles on the service can feature a set of players' favorite titles, as well as other information like a user’s Hogwarts house,Myers-Briggs type, or Pokemon-like cards for their pets. The app is available now on iOS, and an Android version is currently in development.
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Pointing to thegrowing video game marketas a core part of its design philosophy, Kippo is hoping to break the ‘basement dweller’ image of gaming in favor of a more modern approach. The app’s CEO David Park described the gaming-focused public as a demographic that started off niche, but has since grown beyond that. “Historically, there were so many stereotypes and stigmas about gamers. We know that that’s just not true anymore. And this is something that this community really needed,” he told VentureBeat.
The developers of Kippo aren’t just looking for users to come to the app for dating. Instead, it’s designed with an equal focus on trying to get players with similar taste together to play online, much like theLFG servicesthat have become almost mandatory for some players to participate in multiplayer-only modes in games likeDestiny 2orLeague of Legends. Whether users choose to build more romantic relationships out of their interactions is up to them, but the app is there to help nudge people in the right direction, and there’s built-in moderation to weed out more negative interactions between players.
Kippo isn’t the only service looking at the gaming audience as a primary userbase.Discordhas grown immensely since it launched three years ago, taking the group chat friendly design of Slack and combining it with modern voice and video calling to create a beloved service that’s transcended its original purpose in the wake of a global pandemic. For a good chunk of users, it’s a one-stop-shop for communication with friends and fans of their preferred games, but Kippo could carve out a strong niche with a more individualistic approach, much like dating apps that came before it.
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