Dating site for gamers launches in the UK

By Fred Dutton Published 22 February, 2012

Got matchmaking issues?

Does your personal life need a co-op mode? Looking for the perfect Player Two? Well, help could be at hand - the UK's first dating site dedicated solely to gamers went live yesterday.

Dateagamer, the brainchild of UK entrepreneur and TV presenter Tom Thurlow, offers free membership and caters for all persuasions. The site claims it's "home to over 150,000 single gamers".

"It is reckoned that over two-thirds of men and more than half of women in the UK now regularly play video games, so it's about time they had access to a niche dating website packed with members sharing the same interests," commented Thurlow.

"With dateagamer.co.uk gamers can make friends, have fun and find Mr or Mrs Right. It sure beats giving the eye to an avatar all evening!"

Ludicrous promo image below.

1
Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (79) Latest comment 3 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • streetmagix #1 3 months ago

    Erm, no thanks.

  • Hantheman #2 3 months ago

    N.B. No-one this attractive will be members of this site.

  • EvilAspirin #3 3 months ago

    If I said I only wanted something casual to these gamer girls would I just end up with Angry Birds?

  • mattk84 #4 3 months ago

    50 guys for every one girl. Flies round a turd!

  • mattk84 #5 3 months ago

    @EvilAspirin Now that's good!

  • Arsecake_Baker #6 3 months ago

    @streetmagix

    Why not?

    I met two "real" girls whilst playing MMO's, one i dated for three years, the other is now my wife, i think it's a fabulous idea as most gamers of the "hardcore" variety do tend to be a lil bit rubbish in the presence of the fairer sex. :p

  • Cadence #7 3 months ago

    @EvilAspirin nice one :)

  • albo #8 3 months ago

    i'm guessing this article was written primarily because of the pun potential:D

  • seeafish #9 3 months ago

    "It is reckoned that over two-thirds of men and more than half of women in the UK now regularly play video games". Proper games, or Farmville??
    I say this site will be 90% men... from experience, most women gamers aren't single. They are quite rare and competition is high to bag one.

  • BearFishPie #10 3 months ago

    "Halo ladies!"

  • Architect_z #11 3 months ago

    I'm a single, attractive guy, looking for a female who is also into gaming.
    I love gaming, music, movies, bars/pubs/clubs, the outdoors, swimming and playing football.
    I want a girl whos down to earth and enjoys trying new experiences.
    If you're interested, PM me...

    (If I don't get any messages on here, this dating site will never work)

  • Arsecake_Baker #12 3 months ago

    "Whether you want to date an online player, meet up with fellow geeks, or get some nookie just before you get into another Call of Duty session"

    Although this did have me reaching for the puke bucket! :D

  • Slipstream #13 3 months ago

    They'll try absolutely anything.

  • mortiz666 #14 3 months ago

    Has this already launched in other countries? I don't see how it can have 150,000 subscribers already if it's just launched.

  • nimzy #15 3 months ago

    Dutton, you should have totally linked the silly US-equivalent. It's a cold world out there.

  • richarddavies #16 3 months ago

    I'd love a missus that was into games. Now I just need to get rid of my current other half ;)

  • Kanjin #17 3 months ago

    Well this fulfils my final fantasy.

    Damn those are harder than they look.

  • ucankurbaga #18 3 months ago

    uggh this is a bad idea.

  • bad09 #19 3 months ago

    I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

    "My gamertag is bad09 I'm a Dragonborn for a living. My hobbies are noob tubing, beating grannies in GTA and taking photos of Skyrim. I want to meet a girl is fun, won't beat at Street Fighter but can hold their own in L4D and has to be like minded - so that means no Xbots"

    (Nookie is a pre-order bonus though ladies!)

  • DDevil #20 3 months ago

    A/S/L?

    What was that website where you could pay girls to play online with you? That was hilariously cringeworthy.

  • FortysixterUK #21 3 months ago

    but...it'll be all blokes.....and they'll be podgy. And poss middle aged.
    Like me.

    oh...I had to add this......

    MMORPG
    ( Mostly Men Online Role Playing Girls )
    Edited by FortysixterUK at 22/02/12 @ 17:51

  • -cerberus- #22 3 months ago

    "Handsome 15y/o gentleman looking for pretty lady to fap on."

  • Korpers #23 3 months ago

    "....must be into skyrimming."

  • Jay-ITFC #24 3 months ago

    Sausage Fest 2012

  • Deckard1 #25 3 months ago

    Looking through the female section on this will be like going to Sea World.

  • digitalash #26 3 months ago

    How does this site have "150,000 single gamers" if it went live yesterday? It's either an internet sensation or pulling stats out of their posterior. Also, the worst thing about the very worst aspect of the promo image is the hideous transfers on their clothing. Those poor models. The second worst thing is the fact that their logo is a gun and lettering with bullet holes. Are firearms REALLY that synonymous with gaming? Or is it a 'subtle' innuendo? Who knows (or cares)?

  • ZuluHero #27 3 months ago

    149,999 guys then? ;)

  • lucky_jim #28 3 months ago

    This has got to be the single worst business idea ever. It's even worse than the Amstrad E-mailer. It's actually worse than bad business ideas in the world of fiction, such as the car designed by Homer Simpson.

  • PeacockDreams #29 3 months ago

    Now girls know where to look if there ideal man is 'Comic Book Guy' from the Simpsons

  • Dizzy #30 3 months ago

    @Arsecake_Baker Pictures or it didn't happen. :)

  • toythatkills #31 3 months ago

    "PR by Eurogamer."

  • Markusdragon #32 3 months ago

    How is 2/3 of women and 1/2 of men a niche?

  • JMac Verified Designer, Rebellion #33 3 months ago

    Signed up for a laugh and I am member number 10900434

    Guess that means that the site has 434 members then.

  • puddleduck #34 3 months ago

    Err their promo picture is appalling. Two girls holding wii controls and a guy who looks scared. I guess you would be pretty scared when you find out she likes to wii...

  • hilts #35 3 months ago

    This is hilariously bad and sad

  • JMac Verified Designer, Rebellion #36 3 months ago

    I did a search for people in my local area and found my ex girlfriend/current friend on there. She'd never sign up to a site like this.

    They have clearly harvested/bought a load of user data from another company to get their "member" count up. I'll try and find out which other site the user data was harvested from.

  • toythatkills #37 3 months ago

    @JMac Haha, that's amazing, and so totally illegal.

  • MurgleGurgle #38 3 months ago

    Having actually had a look around the place, I do find it rather dodgy, with no actual mention of games in most profiles, and a lot of them clearly dating themselves to late 2010, early 2011. Then there's the issue of the herds of 40+ and 60+ profiles, and I mean I can understand there being some 40+ & 60+ female gamers out there, but 1) I don't expect them on that site, 2) I don't expect them to be that numerous. I concur with JMac, they've probably harvested all of their data elsewhere.

    Gentlemen, I smell a rat here.
    Edited by MurgleGurgle at 22/02/12 @ 18:54

  • JMac Verified Designer, Rebellion #39 3 months ago

    I can confirm that all the profiles on this site have been bought or harvested from another dating site.

    I showed the profile to my friend whose profile I found when doing a local search and she's mortified to see her information being used without her permission. She can't confirm what site the information was taken from, possibly either eHarmony or Zoosk.

    I've sent a message to the site owners to ask precisely WTF

  • Sid-Nice #40 3 months ago

    I'm on Date-A-Gamer now and I've hooked up with a girl called "Ami Ledger"

  • duckmouth #41 3 months ago

    @JMac Nice work JMac. I had a look at a few profiles and not one mentioned gaming. Also, the font used looked weird, like a copy/paste graphic or something. Dodgy, dodgy, dodgy.

  • Pirotic #42 3 months ago

    Hmm, Eurogamer should have done a bit more research before giving these guys PR. 150,000 members.. 149,700 of which have never even heard of the site.

  • afrogeez #43 3 months ago

    @JMac I do believe this might be one of them. http://www.cupid.co.uk/

  • Yeoung #44 3 months ago

    I for one, welcome our new datingsite overlords. I'm not horribly disfigured or excessively nerdy, but I am having trouble finding women who enjoy gaming as more than a mere pass time.

    I would love to meet a girl that knows her way around an RPG or Fighter/Beat 'em Up and would be down for the sexytimes as well. This is a good thing.

  • Anciegher #45 3 months ago

    Seems like a sausage fest. Might be good for gay-gamers though?

  • SuperBas #46 3 months ago

    For every female member, there will be 50 male ones.

  • mortiz666 #47 3 months ago

    I'd love a girl who enjoys a good beat' me off ... uh I mean beat em up.

  • Nevflinn #48 3 months ago

    I only clicked for the tagline, I swear.

  • Yeoung #49 3 months ago

    I had a quick look at the site and am now embarrased about past-me being all optimistic and whatnot.

    idiot.

  • toythatkills #50 3 months ago

    @Nevflinn But you stayed for all the penis.

  • marmaduke #51 3 months ago

    If they've just launched and there's 150 000 profiles, then it's almost certainly just a portal to a larger dating site. For the price of a press release and a photo shoot they're getting free press coverage and most likely some new subs.

    Besides, if half of women in the UK play games regularly, then can't you meet a gamer girl just by... talking to women?

  • kickerconspiracy #52 3 months ago

    I met a girl at an internet cafe, but we didn't click.

  • Timotei #53 3 months ago

    @kickerconspiracy Tim Vine?

  • kickerconspiracy #54 3 months ago

    @Timotei

    Nah, she was called Maud.

  • ZuluHero #55 3 months ago

    @kickerconspiracy I once met a girl at an internet cafe, we tried to interface but we couldn't connect. I think the signal strength was pretty low though! ;)
    Edited by ZuluHero at 22/02/12 @ 20:18

  • Shikasama #56 3 months ago

    I want Eurogamer to look into the potentially fraudulent website they are giivng free ads to please.

    Top work jmac.
    Edited by Shikasama at 22/02/12 @ 20:25

  • ZuluHero #57 3 months ago

    Dateagamer? Dataminer more like!
    Edited by ZuluHero at 22/02/12 @ 20:53

  • Shikasama #58 3 months ago

    I've amde a thread in the EG site discussion forum asking if they will follow up on this http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_posts.php?thread_id=228454&start=0#latest-post

  • meme #59 3 months ago

    It's just a rebranded affiliate website. Check the privacy policy and who runs it.

    "The Service is offered through and accessible through a number of other web sites in addition to the Website. By registering with the Website and submitting data to or through the Website you acknowledge and accept that all data that you post to the Website for access by members of the Website may be searchable and available to users of the Service who access it via different web sites from the Website."

  • Kami #60 3 months ago

    @meme; In effect, it's not a website for gamers to date at all, and this is a cheap gimmick. Not that that should really surprise anyone though, this is what they do.

    and fyi @EvilAspirin, that joke exceeded daily recommended levels of win. Please be careful as excessive win can end up with users looking like Charlie Sheen...

  • dagas #61 3 months ago

    Looking for hot girl with big boobs who is at least in the Platinum league in Starcraft 2. Cheers!

  • DateAGamer #62 3 months ago

    Hello, just a friendly comment to clear up any confusion. Date a Gamer is a brand new dating site marketed for the gaming sector to appeal to those who want to meet up with like-minded individuals. But to get the ball rolling we have partnered with another well known dating company to allocate our members with other singletons who have specifically stated their interests/hobbies are in gaming, internet etc.

    I hope this helps. Obviously we're new so we're very open to suggestions and we're working on some exciting ideas already that we'll launch for all our members in the coming weeks. Hopefully many of you may see value in a dating site specifically targetting Gamers :)
    Edited by DateAGamer at 22/02/12 @ 21:20

  • SheffAl #63 3 months ago

    @mattk84

    lol so true. I feel sorry for the girl gamers!

  • Cheeseasaurus #64 3 months ago

    @DateAGamer Pro Tip: 80 year old Grannies who like computers =/= gamers.

  • FWB #65 3 months ago

    It's not the worst idea I've heard of. That goes to a little man with IBS who decided invading Russia in the winter time was a good idea.

  • Lolatron #66 3 months ago

    It's set up in the exact same way as this site is:

    www.seek-a-geek.co.uk

    The actual chances of finding a partner on there who genuinely has the same interests as ourselves to the same degree, I'd imagine are extremely slim!
    Edited by Lolatron at 22/02/12 @ 22:22

  • scoop #67 3 months ago

    I hope the profiles have clearly labelled fanboi preferences. You really don't want opposing console owners mixing.

  • LionheartDJH #68 3 months ago

    @dagas Get yourself to South Korea and you might just find your seoul mate.

  • Lostcauz #69 3 months ago

    The back end of the dating aspect is run by a company who do the back end of other dating websites e.g FHM. The website cross references the databases of all the dating sites it runs, it searches customers interests and looks for people who like computers. The results then appear at dateagamer.co.uk. This is where the 150,000 users come from, someone ticks a box saying they like computers on one dating site and suddenly there a gamer/geek. I imagine if you message any girl on that site mentioning computer games, you will be single forever.

  • Shikasama #70 3 months ago

    @DateAGamer So you're 150,000 members claim is fucking bullshit isn't it.

    Come to a website composed entirely of your target audience and pull this sort of shit. That can only end well.

    Edit: Actually it's not bullshit, you are perfectly titled to claim you have 150,000 members even if you did steal them and upload them without their express permission. 150,000 members and no users isn't much of a hook is it.

    This type of business practice really sickens me.
    Edited by Shikasama at 23/02/12 @ 02:43

  • Ryze #71 3 months ago

    So... it's launched with 150000 members.

    So - they should all be on here, as this is UKgamer, right?

    Fake/Advert.

    Apologies for not wrapping the above statement in a sarcastic joke to make it palatable.

    Here's some lolcats instead:



    :)
    Edited by Ryze at 23/02/12 @ 03:23

  • The-Bodybuilder #72 3 months ago

    @EvilAspirin
    HI-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!

  • The-Bodybuilder #73 3 months ago

    Just as long as the girls know I always play with cheat-mode.

  • The-Bodybuilder #74 3 months ago

    @JMac LOL, don't try and use "as a laugh" and research as your excuse for wanting to sign up for this site and even more. :D

  • Architect_z #75 3 months ago

    @Sid Nice - Who said you could date my wife!?

  • JMac Verified Designer, Rebellion #76 3 months ago

    @The-Bodybuilder Uh-oh, BUSTED :-(

    So it seems like the whole site is just a front for a larger dating super-website. Still, it seems like "Home to over 150,000 single gamers" is just a bare-faced lie, and potentially illegal.

    More like "Home to over 150,000 single people who didn't read the terms and conditions on our other sites"

  • scoop #77 3 months ago

    @JMac Yeah, anyone who's familiar with dating sites (that is, anyone who bothers to read the Terms & Cons) should be able to point out that this is completely common-place practise... be very careful when giving your details to anyone, because a lot of people partner with "aggregator" services who provide back-end services in return for being allowed to re-sell the data they store. That's what it means when they say "we'll share data with our trusted partners".

    You can't put a price on Trust, of course, so always start off by considering it value-less...

    Edit: I met my wife on a dating site, and her details are still floating around on some sites several years later. Now if only she'd meet someone.
    Edited by scoop at 23/02/12 @ 11:05

  • kinky_mong #78 3 months ago

    "If I said I only wanted something casual to these gamer girls would I just end up with Angry Birds?"

    It turns out the only Angry Birds will be the ones who signed up to another site and are shocked to find their profile is appearing on a site aimed at nerds!

  • NbKSeanSQ #79 3 months ago

    Post deleted at 03:33:25 24-02-2012