Tinder launches apocalyptic Swipe Night experience in the UK and around the world

Trying to find love as the world ends? What a concept!

That premise is central to Tinder's interactive Swipe Night event, which launches in the UK and Brazil, Sweden, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Australia, Indonesia, India, and Korea on Sept. 12 at 10am.

If you're unfamiliar with Swipe Night, then here's a lil catch up: Swipe Night is a first-person choose-your-own-adventure style event where Tinder users can swipe at key moments to determine the direction of the story within the app. Swiping doesn't just affect how the story ends — it also has a bearing on who users match with and what they end up chatting about.

As for the storyline, well, it couldn't be more pertinent to the times we're living in. Swipe Night tells the story of a group of friends during the last few hours before an asteroid hits Earth. Why yes, it's the apocalypse! Tinder users play the main protagonist and as the plot unfurls, they face practical decisions and moral quandaries that ultimately decide who they end up matching with.

Tinder launched Swipe Night in the U.S. back in late 2019, but had to cancel its global launch of Swipe Night in March 2020 specifically citing the apocalyptic theme and the coronavirus pandemic. "Tinder was excited to bring this innovation to Australian members, but given the series’ apocalyptic theme, and because we are sensitive to the current events our members are experiencing, we felt it would be difficult to launch it in the right spirit," the company's PR firm told Mashable in March.

Although the pandemic is still very much ongoing, Tinder has decided to launch now anyway.

"While the global health crisis continues, we believe Swipe Night can bring a welcome change of pace to our members around the world," said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Tinder, in a statement. "We’re committed to driving innovation on Tinder that creates more ways to bring our members together, entertain them, and help them meet and get to know new people."

Speed is of the essence in Swipe Night. Users only have seven seconds to make each decision. So, this is not a game for the indecisive at heart. After you've made each life-altering choice, your decision will be added to your Tinder profile, the purpose of which, per a Tinder statement, is to facilitate "post-apocalyptic banter making it easier for new matches to go beyond the dreaded 'hey, how’s it going?' intro message." To be fair, apocalyptic banter isn't all too different to our usual dating app convos.

There's no denying that dating is a bit of a mess right now, but it looks like many of us have been undeterred from opening up the apps and chatting away. According to Tinder data, 52 percent more messages were sent globally when stay at home orders went into effect around the world. And swipe volume also increased by 39 percent among members under the age of 25.

As we head into cuffing season (whether we want to or not), Swipe Night will take place over three weekends in September, starting on Sept 12. If you want to have a go, you can do so from 10 a.m. on Sept. 12 until 23:59 on Sept. 13. You can also participate on Sept. 19 and 20 and Sept. 26 and 27. starting from 10 a.m. on the Saturday until 23:59 on the Sunday.

Tinder got some big names involved in the production of Swipe Night. The production was directed by Karena Evans, who directs Drake's music videos, and written by Nicole Delaney, story editor of Netflix's Big Mouth.

Happy swiping!

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