The dating app Bumble has announced Night In, a new feature that lets you play games on a virtual date. The feature is available to users in the US and Canada, and the game available during launch is a series of trivia questions that you can answer together. However, Bumble says it plans to offer more games and virtual experiences in the “near future”.
Night In is an extension of Bumble’s existing video dates feature, which launched it in 2019. The feature saw a clear increase in demand due to the pandemic; Bumble says its voice and video calling features were used 70 percent more after the pandemic began. Hopefully, playing a game can act as a nice icebreaker and soften some of the more awkward elements of virtual dating, even if it will never match the intimacy of being in the same room as another person.
Bumble’s Night In can be organized using the icon in a chat message. The virtual date can be scheduled in advance on any day of the week between 18:00 and midnight. Once scheduled, both participants will receive reminders and notices before the date.
Bumble’s video chat features were in place before the pandemic, but other dating apps like Tinder and Hinge have had to catch up in a hurry over the past year. Although the introduction of these features was undoubtedly influenced by the pandemic, it sounds as if it could survive into this current era of social distance. In a recent survey, Bumble says, nearly half of U.S. respondents say they prefer a first date rather than a virtual one.