User:Xmmmm7/sandbox

E-Pal, formally known as E-Girl, is an American freelancing platform for video game teammates hiring service launched in 2020. The platform allows users to apply to become an “E-Pal” – a merchant that receives payment in return for playing games with clients. The platform is available as both a website and an APP free of charge on Android and iOS [3]. It is currently the largest teammate hiring platform in the English-speaking countries with a user base of more than 360 thousand users.

History
EPAL, Inc was founded by Brian Xiong and Norris Wang at the beginning of 2020 in the hope of connecting lonely gamers to semiprofessional playmates, as they themselves realized it was difficult to find people to play games with. [4]

In March, 2020, the website egirl.gg was officially online. [4][5] The concept of renting “egirls” quickly attracted a large following to the site, and it became viral within the gaming community, including YouTube and Twitch. [6]

Its registered users rose to 10,000 within the same month. [11]

On month after the pervious milestone, E-pal announced that its registered users broke 100,000 in April 2020.[12]

In the same month, egirl.gg was rebranded to Epal.gg in the hope of removing the negative stigma that comes with the previous name. The community guideline and multimedia policy were also adjusted to reflect this change – all NSFW content was strictly prohibited and the users who failed to comply were removed. [7]

The iOS application was released in August. [13]

The Android application was released in September. [14]

Mobile Chatroom was released at the end of September. [15]

Meet was released at the end of October. [15]

E-Pal has announced their user count broke 300,000 people. [16]

E-Pal hiring
The E-Pal hiring service is broken down into different games on the website, a client who is looking to hire an E-Pal would select a game to see all available E-Pals for that particular game. The E-Pals are displayed as a list, showcasing their profile picture, order history, order price and a voice recording [8]. After making their choices, the client could communicate with the E-Pal they are looking to hire through supporting features such as on-site messaging, voice calls to finalize the order. On-site refund is allowed, which could be done either through a mutual agreement or contacting customer service [9].

To become an E-Pal, a user has to be at least 18 years old and provide a series of evidence to show their competence in the game they are applying for [2]. Players with exceptional skill could also apply to become a Coach, formally known as E-Pro, which grants them various perks and symbol [10].

Meet
Meet allows users to find teammates for free through swiping left and right. The underlying algorithm uses tags people add as a way to identify potential matches. Due the accessible nature of Meet, it is now the flagship function of E-Pal and the front page.

LFG and Voice-Chatroom
All users are allowed to setup a LFG (looking for group) room or a voice-chatroom. These rooms allow real-time group voice chats that could either be dedicated to a particular game such as Among Us, or general chatter. The rooms have built-in gifting options, allowing users to send each other gifts that have monetary values.

Criticisms and controversy
Business model – The concept of paying money to hire a “friend” to play video game with has been the hot debate between many people. Some think it is a legitimate way for gamers to generate a bit of side income, while some think it is a dangerous line that blurs the the line between friendship and professional relationship. Some have even pointed out the name “egirl” itself was intrinsically misogynistic, but many girls who use the site seem to be have no problem with it. [4][17][18][19]