Twitter is pulling the plug on the Periscope live-streaming app on March 31.
According to Twitter, the service is no longer worth running as a standalone app. “The truth is that the Periscope app is in an unsustainable maintenance-mode state, and has been for a while,” the Periscope team wrote in a Tuesday blog post.
“Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen declining usage and know that the cost to support the app will only continue to go up over time,” the team added. “Leaving it in its current state isn’t doing right by the current and former Periscope community or by Twitter.”
The company acquired Periscope in 2015 when live streaming on smartphones was still a novelty, and the company wanted to compete with the now-defunct Meerkat. But now you can live stream across all major apps, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
"We probably would have made this decision sooner if it weren’t for all of the projects we reprioritized due to the events of 2020," the Periscope team added.
Despite the coming shutdown, the app's core capabilities will live on through the built-in Twitter live streaming feature. “And we’re confident that live video still has the potential of seeing an even wider audience within the Twitter product,” the Periscope team added.
If you shared a Periscope on Twitter, the video will continue to remain up as a replay. All users will also be to download an archive of their Periscope videos before the app is removed in March. In addition, Periscope's web version at periscope.tv/periscopeco will remain online, but only as an archive for past live streams. The company has also published a detailed FAQ on the shutdown. Starting today, no new Periscope accounts can be created.
In 2016, Twitter also killed its TikTok-like short video app, Vine.