Official line
Messenger users moving to Skype.
Microsoft · Messaging · Product
Windows Live Messenger
Discontinued
1999–2013 · 14 years in market
Launched
Jul 22, 1999
Discontinued
Apr 15, 2013
Cause of death
Replaced by successor
Evidence
Unsourced
What was it?
MSN Messenger’s last name. The after-school chat of a generation, retired for Skype.
Why it died
Editorial reading
A forced migration into a product with a different job (calls, not status messages).
Founder takeaway
Do not merge a social habit into a utility. Nudges and winks were the product.
Sources
Unsourced — editorial reading
No primary source is attached yet. Treat the interpretation as editorial, not a citation.
What replaced it
Discord
Discord
The after-school chat, rebuilt for games.
Related graves
Same company, category, or cause of death.
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