GameCrush: Pay-for-Play Video Gaming for Lonely Nerds

This past Tuesday, a new site called GameCrush had a very successful beta launch, due in part to some heavy media hype. Gaming, technology and social bookmarking outlets generated so much traffic to the site that they're currently on hiatus due to server overload. Why all the hype?

GameCrush gives lonely gamer guys what they've always wanted: a "hot" female playmate. Players (as males are referred to on the site) purchase 500 credits on the site at a rate of $8.25 each. For 400 credits (the equivalent of $6.60) per 6-10 minute game, you can chat and play with a girl (known as a PlayDate) through one of two options: via headset on limited games over Xbox Live (XBL), or via webcam while playing flash games like pool in your browser. If you really enjoyed your PlayDate experience, you also have the option of leaving your PlayDate a 100 credit tip at the end of your session.

According to GameCrush, PlayDates keep 60% of all their earnings. For a 400 credit session, the site earns $6.60 - and the PlayDate's cut is $3.96. Assuming she earned a tip, those amounts jump to $8.25 for the site and $4.95 to the PlayDate. If she managed 6 back-to-back play sessions while earning a tip each time, a PlayDate could earn just shy of $30 per hour. Not bad for getting paid to play video games.

This may not be a good atmosphere for the average girl who wants to earn a side income, however. PlayDates can operate on the site under one of only two moods: Flirty and Dirty. This distinction takes GameCrush away from the "Ladies Night" atmosphere you might find at a bar or on a dating website - where girls get in free to attract paying guys. The exchange of cash and the sexualized overtone makes it seem more like GameCrush acts as a madam between lonely gamers and girls looking to make a few bucks. As you might imagine, the site is designed with adults in mind - both Players and PlayDates are required to be at least 18 years of age.

The jury is still out on whether this site will be a success. Sex sells, but at what price? It's almost as if GameCrush is bent on insulting Players and PlayDates alike - girls can only earn money if they're willing to flirt (or perhaps more). The guys need to be pathetic enough to be willing to pay for female company. The initial media hoopla is not all favorable - many of the sites featuring articles on GameCrush are doing so simply because the site's premise is so ridiculous.

I wouldn't be surprised if GameCrush eventually amended their business model in some way. Perhaps they'll become a free dating site for gamers - or at the other side of the spectrum, maybe they'll hire some cam models and re-launch as a pornographic gaming experience. Either way, GameCrush is a news-worthy and dividing new force in the gaming world.

Sources:

GameCrush. GameCrush.

Matt Hickey. GameCrush: Pay to Play - With Girls. Cnet.

Dean Takahashi. "Dudes can pay hot girls to play online video games with them." Gamesbeat.

Presslift. GameCrush Press Release.