‘World of Warcraft’ better for singles

Study: 

‘World of Warcraft’ better for singles than online dating sites

By Ben Silverman 

World of Warcraft (Activision Blizzard)Looking to meet the love of your life online? Try to be open-minded, because they might be an orc.

The tongue-in-cheek curiosity seekers at Online University compiled a ton of online dating stats, and as it turns out, those looking to hook up over the web may actually fare better questing in World of Warcraft than sifting through eHarmony profiles.

The numbers certainly make Azeroth appealing.  Warcraft boasts a good 12 million subscribers to eHarmony's 1 million members -- that's a lot more fish in the proverbial sea -- and the gamers log over 30 hours a month mucking about while online daters only spend about an hour and a half per month on dating sites. Warcraft is younger, too, with a median age of 32 compared to eHarmony's 48.

None of that is surprising, but a look beyond the numbers paints an even more romantic picture for Warcraft. According to the study, a whopping 75% of Warcraft players are dating someone else playing the game, and of those, another 75% actually traveled over 100 miles to meet their current partner. Wonder if they used amount?

Even crazier, the study claims that if a guy contacts 100 women at Match.com, he can expect to hear back from a whopping one of them. Meanwhile, over 40% of female Warcraft players report feeling attracted to another player.

In truth, gamers have been finding romance through video games for years now. The first official Warcraft wedding dates back to 2006, and just a year later, a couple who met playing online game Everquest tied the knot in a ceremony that took place in both the game and the real-world (Vegas, of course) simultaneously. Even Words With Friends is turning into a hook-up hangout.

So should you can your OKCupid profile and start searching for your soulmate in Stormwind? There's no guarantee in love, but it's almost certain to be a lot more fun.