CNN Business reports Facebook announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue its standalone Gaming App in the fall.
According to a notice posted in the app on Tuesday, the app for video gamers and live-streamers, which has long struggled to compete with rivals such as Amazon-owned Twitch, will no longer work on Oct. 28. The Facebook Gaming App for iOS and Android will also be removed from app stores on that date.
“We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you for everything you’ve done to build a thriving community for gamers and fans since this app first launched,” The Facebook Gaming team wrote in a memo. “Bringing new gaming features to Facebook was truly a community-led effort.”
In a statement to CNN Business on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Facebook-parent Meta confirmed the news, but added that “people will still be able to find their games, streamers, and groups on the main Facebook app.”
Facebook Gaming debuted in 2018 with high hopes of capitalising on the social network’s massive audience. Despite luring some popular streamers away from competitors such as Twitch with lucrative contracts, it eventually struggled to find its place in the competitive video game streaming wars. In July 2020, Microsoft will close its rival live-streaming gaming platform, Mixer.
According to industry research published earlier this month by StreamLabs, Facebook Gaming held only 7.9% of the market share for hours watched in the second quarter of 2022. Twitch dominated the market, accounting for 76.7% of total hours watched, while YouTube Gaming Live accounted for 15.4%.
