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Once upon a time, Roblox was where your younger cousin spent hours absorbed in role-playing simulations with strangers across the country. Now, the gaming platform has become somewhat of a one-stop shop, hosting everything from virtual music festivals to political protests (well-organized ones). It could also be where you meet the love of your life.
This week, Roblox’s CEO, David Baszucki, spoke about his next big goal for the brand: romance. During an interview on the Tech Stuff podcast, David said, “I think a lot of people who are too afraid to go on a real-life date might find it easier to have a virtual date to start, and then if they connect, move to the physical world.”
David actually soft-launched the plan to facilitate immersive dating experiences back at the 2023 Roblox Developers Conference. In practice, this would allow users to go on dates with other users they’ve met in the metaverse, which would ideally result in “real-life relationships.” David cited the “loneliness epidemic” as the reason this is needed. There’s a pretty depressing stat that states 73% of Gen Z struggles with loneliness, which does make any attempt to inspire real-life connections feel a bit urgent.
Unfortunately, if you’re ready to start testing this function out, the virtual dating option isn’t live yet. Currently, online dating and romantic relationships between players are actually explicitly prohibited per Roblox Community Standards. And that’s mainly because Roblox users famously fall on the younger side (39% of users are younger than 13). But this new dating service would be reserved for the opt-in, ID-verified 21+ users on the platform.
My first reaction was that it seems counterintuitive to combat the loneliness epidemic on a digital platform that allows you to date while physically isolated. And VR dating does feel like a product of late-stage traditional dating app fatigue. But after spending time with my imagination, I’ve become open to the idea of being wined and dined via Roblox. As David noted, it does alleviate a lot of the nerves that come with first dates in real-life dates. And maybe it’s more necessary given how hesitant people are to make moves these days. (A study found that almost half of young men 18-25 say they’ve never approached someone for a date in person) Maybe there will be connections made in the metaverse that would’ve never come together in real life.
There’s also much less prep involved in getting ready for a virtual date. Why shave your legs when you can just log on and let your avatar look good on your behalf? And with all of those physical pressures lifted, maybe this feature will allow daters to place a greater focus on asking intentional questions. We can treat the metaverse dating period like the pod-dating episodes on Love Is Blind—a window for pure “getting to know you” conversations without all of real life’s external pressures. For that reason, I’m willing to treat Roblox dating with all the sincerity that I would have getting drinks with a Hinge match.
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