Houseparty is a chat app that Fortnite maker Epic Games acquired in 2019 for an estimated $ 35 million. However, the closure has been decided recently. According to the company, the Houseparty will end in October 2021 when existing users will no longer be able to use the app. However, it will be removed from the app store today. Along with this move, Epic Games’ Fortnite mode, which uses Houseparty to provide video chat to Fortnite gamers, will also end.
Founded in 2015, Houseparty offers users the ability to participate in group video chats with friends and even play games such as Uno, trivia, and Heads Up. In 2020, Epic Games integrated Houseparty into Fortnite, first allowing gamers to watch their friends’ live feeds while playing, and later adding the ability to livestream gameplay directly to Houseparty. At the time, these integrations seemed to be the ultimate goal explaining why Epic Games acquired Houseparty.
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・ Added “Fortnite mode” to Houseparty, video chat while playing
・ “Fortnite” gameplay can now be distributed to friends through Houseparty
And just two years after the announcement of the acquisition, and less than half a year after the addition of livestreaming support, the Houseparty will close.
At first glance, the company didn’t give clear insight into the move, which could be said to have admitted that it had failed to take full advantage of the acquisition. But the reality is that Epic Games may have something bigger than video chat. That said, Epic Games could only say that the Houseparty team wasn’t able to pay the necessary attention to the app that day. It’s a statement that represents a business decision that shifts the focus of the team to something else.
TechCrunch has heard that no Houseparty team members will be dismissed by this decision, and they will move to another team to work on a new way to enable “social interaction” across Epic Games family products. Become. The company’s announcement suggests that its social features will be designed and developed on a “metaverse scale.”
“Metaverse” is a buzzword that has become popular these days and refers to shared virtual environments such as those offered by large online gaming platforms such as Fortnite and Roblox. Facebook has also declared Metaverse to be the next big move in social networking, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg “not just looking at it, but being in it.” It’s like the Internet that makes you feel like that. “
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・ Ariana Grande holds a concert at “Fortnite”
・ Houseparty where everyone can enjoy online events together goes beyond video chat
In a sense, Fortnite is beginning to embrace the Metaverse, offering non-gaming experiences such as online concerts and other live events that you can attend as an avatar. Prior to the end, Houseparty also took part in a live event, allowing users to watch and participate with their friends.
3/6 The metaverse vision and products we’re working on at @EpicGames are also about shared experiences, but in a more rich form than 2D video — one that’s better positioned to shape the next generation of the internet.
– sima sistani (@SimaSistani) September 9, 2021
A spokeswoman for Epic Games told TechCrunch that the Houseparty team is working on and will continue to work on several social-focused projects. But some of the “big projects” that Epic Games is working on haven’t been announced yet.
When it comes to social products, Houseparty technology now underpins all of Fortnite’s voice chat, and the features they create are open to developers for free through Epic Games Services. We are also building new social experiences, such as Fortnite’s global events, such as the social RSVP feature of recent Ariana Grande concerts, and “Operation: Sky Fire” for collaboration of game elements such as quests. (Operation: Sky Fire) ”events are being developed. Fortnite’s user-generated content platform, Create Mode, also adds new social features and experiences.
It may seem strange to shut down an app that has just surged in 2020 due to a pandemic, but the demand for this new corona seems unsustainable.
At the peak of lockdown, Houseparty recorded 50 million new registrants per month. The world was closed and users were looking for a video chat app to connect with family and friends. But as the pandemic progressed, other video chat experiences gained momentum. Not only has Zoom established itself as an essential tool for remote work, it has also become a tool for spending time with friends at the end of work. Facebook also afflicted the House party with the introduction of the 2020 video chat feature “Rooms” to provide a similar group video experience. And tired users have moved to audio-based social networking such as Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces.
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・ Video chat Houseparty records 50 million sign-ups in a month due to the ban on going out due to the new Corona
・ Check the ability of Facebook’s social video chat function Rooms
・ Social apps that create spontaneous communication required in isolated life
Image credit: Apptopia
Houseparty continues to decline after a pandemic fattening, according to Apptopia data. So far, iOS and Android have been downloaded 111 million times, most of them (63 million times). The United States is Houseparty’s largest market, accounting for 43.4% of downloads, followed by the United Kingdom (9.8%) and Germany (5.6%).
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By the way, Epic Games says the app has been used by “tens of millions” of users worldwide. He emphasized that the closure was not an easy decision, and that the decision to exit “Fortnite mode” was not due to poor usage.
Houseparty will warn users of the closure via in-app notifications prior to its full end in October. Fortnite Mode will no longer be available at the end of the service.
Image credit: Epic
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(Sentence: Sarah Perez, Translation: Nob Takahashi / facebook)
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