Will the old Dating Game brand work on Facebook?

Old brands don’t necessarily do that well on Facebook and other social media. But 3G Studios is betting that it has the right brand for those platforms: The Dating Game, a TV series that first aired back in the 1960s.

The Reno, Nevada-based game studio has acquired rights to the classic TV series and will launch apps based on it on Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Hi5 and Twitter. After all, dating is what those sites are all about, right?

This kind of game could be successful if it’s well done. It could also turn out to be a dud, like many brand-focused efforts on social networks.

The new social game will debut in the first quarter, allowing players from around the world to “date” in an interactive experience. The game of flirty fun mimics the original show. Three contestants participate in a question and answer session as they try to win a date with an unseen bachelor or bachelorette. Contestants can go on multiple “dates” all over the world.

Users create an in-game avatar that can be personalized for body type, hair, eye color and clothing. The contestants engage in various question-and-answer games to learn more about each other’s likes and interests, with identities remaining a mystery.

3G Studios has made a variety of games in the past, such as Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2009, Rock Band (in collaboration with Harmonix), and Stacked with Daniel Negreanu.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.