MinimalStatePaying women to play games
IGN ran a story today on a site called GameCrush.com. GameCrush reportedly decribes itself as “the first social site for adult gamers” and judging by the IGN article it’s trying to position itself as something of a cross between a gamers Facebook and a dating site.
The SMH article has a nice summary of their business model:
“On GameCrush guys (called “Players”) choose a girl (called “PlayDates”) to play with. Players then pay $US6.60 ($7.20) for about 10 minutes of gaming, and PlayDates keeps 60 per cent of the money,…GameCrush said PlayDates can earn up to $US30 an hour.” (SMH 26/03/2010)
When you throw in Gamecrush’s voice & video chat functions and the fact “PlayDates” get rated on looks and flirtiness (as well as gaming ability), Gamcrush seems to have more in common with a camgirl site than your typical social networking site.
What sets Gamecrush apart is that they have identified a specific market segment (gamers) and targeted this segment with a less stimagtised version of the camgirl business model. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” as Jerry would say, but it will be interesting to see if Gamecrush can turn the server crushing torrent of global publicity into a sustained revenue and profit stream.
