Meta, expected to compete with Polymarket and Calci... In-house test operation of prediction market app

It has been confirmed that Meta, the world's largest social networking service (SNS) company, is testing a prediction market app for its employees.

The US daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 13th (local time), citing multiple sources, that Meta is internally testing a prediction market app named ‘Takes’ prior to its official launch.

This kind of internal testing, called 'dogfooding', is a common preliminary procedure that Meta goes through before releasing a new service to the public. However, there is a possibility that the name or function of the app may change during this process.

In fact, a question was currently posted on Takes, 'Will former Apple CEO Tim Cook become the next CEO of NVIDIA?', and the majority of Meta employees who participated in the question bet on the 'against' side, WSJ reported.

Takes is likely to compete for users with existing major prediction market platforms such as Polymarket and Calci, but unlike these, instead of betting real money, Takes bets virtual points called 'Cred'.

Meta's entry into the prediction market follows the direct instructions of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The New York Times (NYT) reported in June that CEO Zuckerberg formed a small team at the company and instructed it to develop a prediction market app.

Meta is planning to attract existing SNS users such as Facebook, Instagram, and Thread as initial users of the app.

Meta previously launched the prediction platform ‘Forecast’ in 2020, but discontinued the service two years later.

Meta's new entry into the prediction market competition is interpreted as an attempt to prevent young users such as Generation Z (ages 15 to 29) from leaving and encourage their participation, considering that they are enthusiastic about this service.

However, a risk factor is that some in the political circles view prediction markets as illegal gambling and are increasingly calling for regulation. It is presumed that Meta took this into consideration by allowing players to bet with points instead of cash.