Tencent-backed Hike Messenger has introduced a new offering called HikeLand which is a mobile virtual world where people can participate in many activities. The move has come when sharing experiences via social networks has strengthened due to people staying at homes. After a unique social experience created by Houseparty in the last three-four months, Hike decided to get onboard the trend and introduce its own HikeLand. “HikeLand was born out of an idea to push the boundaries on the UX and go beyond the decade-old user experiences such as messaging and feed etc,” the company said in a statement. HikeLand is now available in early preview.
The company informed via its early preview that there will be two unique shared experiences for users in HikeLand, Home and Big Screen. It explained that the home screen will be only for the user themself, more like a private space. In this mode, users can watch YouTube videos and talk about it with another user. There will be eight themes to choose from and the home screen can be customised depending on the likes of the user. No one who is uninvited can enter this room.
Big screen, on the other hand, is unlike Home and is more open. Users that enjoy similar content can be a part of it. According to the company, this can give users an opportunity to interact with others who they do not know and create new friendships. Within this space, there will be a variety of videos including those of comedy, sports among others. While viewing the show/video of choice, users can find out more about others watching the same content through their profiles and even message them.
https://twitter.com/kavinbm/status/1273142798066290694
Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, Hike, said, “The world has evolved, it’s time for social products to as well. With HikeLand, we’re launching the world’s first mobile-first Virtual World. A brand new take on how people can hangout online, transcending beyond the limitations of the offline world.”
Hike emphasised that the homegrown product has been built keeping in mind the Indian audience only. The company claimed it to influence the innovation in the UX majorly as Hike has built this for a vertical view and not horizontal. “Leveraging diversity of art skills and resources, HIkeLand also brought together a design team of not only UI and UX but also Fashion, Art, and 3D artists,” it said. Users (android/ iOS) will have to update their Hike to access Hikeland.
