{"id":26223,"date":"2021-09-10T12:16:45","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T12:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/epic-games-to-shut-down-houseparty-in-october-including-the-video-chat-fortnite-mode-feature.html"},"modified":"2021-09-10T12:16:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T12:16:45","slug":"epic-games-to-shut-down-houseparty-in-october-including-the-video-chat-fortnite-mode-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/epic-games-to-shut-down-houseparty-in-october-including-the-video-chat-fortnite-mode-feature.html","title":{"rendered":"Epic Games to shut down Houseparty in October, including the video chat \u2018Fortnite Mode\u2019 feature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houseparty, the social video chat app acquired<\/a> by Fortnite maker Epic Games for a reported $35 million<\/a> back in 2019, is shutting down. The company says<\/a> Houseparty will be discontinued in October when the app will stop functioning for its existing users; it will be pulled from the app stores today, however. Related to this move, Epic Games\u2019 \u201cFortnite Mode\u201d feature<\/a>, which leveraged Houseparty to bring video chat to Fortnite gamers, will also be discontinued.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2015, Houseparty offered a way for users to participate in group video chats with friends and even play games, like Uno, trivia, Heads Up and others. Last year, Epic Games integrated<\/a> Houseparty with Fortnite, initially to allow gamers to see live feeds from friends while gaming, then later adding support<\/a> to livestream gameplay directly into Houseparty. At the time, these integrations appeared to be the end goal that explained why Epic Games had bought the social startup in the first place.<\/p>\n

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8 investors discuss social gaming\u2019s biggest opportunities<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Now, just over two years after the acquisition was announced, and less than half a year since support for livestreaming<\/a> was added to the app, Houseparty is shutting down.<\/p>\n

The company didn\u2019t offer any solid insight into what, at first glance, feels like an admission of failure to capitalize on its acquisition. But the reality is that Epic Games may have something larger in store beyond just video chat. That said, all Epic Games would say today is that the Houseparty team could no longer give the app the attention it required \u2014 a statement that indicates an executive decision to shift the team\u2019s focus to other matters.<\/p>\n

While none of the Houseparty team members are being let go as a result of this move, we\u2019re told, they will be joining other teams where they will work on new ways to allow for \u201csocial interactions\u201d across the Epic Games family of products. The company\u2019s announcement hinted that those social features would be designed and built at the \u201cmetaverse scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cmetaverse\u201d is an increasingly used buzzword that references a shared virtual environment, like those provided by large-scale online gaming platforms such as Fortnite, Roblox and others. Facebook, too, claims the metaverse<\/a> is the next big gambit for social networking, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg having described it as an \u201cembodied internet that you\u2019re inside of rather than just looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n

To some extent, Fortnite has begun to embrace the metaverse by offering non-gaming experiences like online<\/a> concerts<\/a> you attend as your avatar, and other live events. Ahead of its shutdown, Houseparty also toyed with live events<\/a> that users would co-watch and participate in alongside their friends.<\/p>\n

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3\/6 The metaverse vision and products we\u2019re working on at @EpicGames<\/a> are also about shared experiences, but in a more rich form than 2D video \u2014 one that’s better positioned to shape the next generation of the internet.<\/p>\n

\u2014 sima sistani (@SimaSistani) September 9, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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An Epic Games spokesperson tells TechCrunch the Houseparty team has worked on (and continues to work on) a number of other projects that focus on social. But some of the \u201cmultiple, larger projects\u201d Epic Games has in the works remain undisclosed, we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n

In terms of social products, Houseparty\u2019s technology now underpins all of Fortnite voice chat and the features they built are widely available for free to developers through Epic Games Services<\/a>. They also worked on building out new social experiences, which have ranged from the social RSVP functions for Fortnite\u2019s global events, like the recent Ariana Grande concert, to the upcoming \u201cOperation: Sky Fire\u201d event<\/a> for collaborating quests and other game mechanics. More social functionality and new experiences are also being built into Fortnite\u2019s user-generated content platform, Create Mode.<\/p>\n

While it may seem odd to close an app that only last year experienced a boost in usage due to the pandemic, it appears the COVID bump didn\u2019t have staying power.<\/p>\n

At the height of lockdowns, Houseparty had reported it had gained 50 million new sign-ups<\/a> in a month\u2019s time as users looked to video apps to connect with family and friends while the world was shut down. But as the pandemic wore on, other video chat experiences gained more ground. Zoom, which had established itself as an essential tool for remote work, became a tool for hanging out with friends<\/a> after-hours, as well. Facebook also started to eat Houseparty\u2019s lunch with its debut of drop-in video chat \u201cRooms\u201d last year,<\/a> which offered a similar group video experience. And bored users shifted to audio-based social networking on apps like Clubhouse<\/a> or Twitter Spaces.<\/p>\n

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Image Credits:<\/strong> Apptopia<\/p>\n

According to data from Apptopia<\/a>, Houseparty has been continually declining since the pandemic bump. To date, its app has seen a total of 111 million downloads across iOS and Android, with the majority (63 million) on iOS. The U.S. was Houseparty\u2019s largest market, accounting for 43.4% of downloads, followed by the U.K. (9.8%), then Germany (5.6%).<\/p>\n

Epic Games, meanwhile, said the app served \u201ctens of millions\u201d of users worldwide. It insists the closure wasn\u2019t decided lightly, nor was the decision to shutter \u201cFortnite Mode\u201d made due to lack of adoption.<\/p>\n

Houseparty will alert users to the shutdown via in-app notifications ahead of its final closure in October. At that point, Fortnite Mode will also no longer be available.<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/bnuMFCp5lzA\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Houseparty, the social video chat app acquired by Fortnite maker Epic Games for a reported $35 million back in 2019, is shutting down. The company says Houseparty will be discontinued <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-26223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t