Official reason
Messenger users moving to Skype.
Microsoft · Messaging
Windows Live Messenger
RIP
1999–2013 · 14 years in market
MSN Messenger’s last name. The after-school chat of a generation, retired for Skype.
Launched
Jul 22, 1999
Discontinued
Apr 15, 2013
Cause of death
Replaced by successor
What actually happened
A forced migration into a product with a different job (calls, not status messages).
Lesson
Do not merge a social habit into a utility. Nudges and winks were the product.
Similar products that survived
Discord
Discord
The after-school chat, rebuilt for games.
Related autopsies
Microsoft
RIP
Mixer
2016–2020 · 4 yrs
Beam, then Mixer. Ninja’s exclusive did not move the culture. Twitch remained home.
Gaming/Lost to a competitor+41
Microsoft
RIP
Internet Explorer
1995–2022 · 27 yrs
The browser that won the first war and lost the next three. Retired in favor of Chromium Edge.
Developer Tools/Replaced by successor+41
Apple
RIP
iChat
2002–2012 · 10 yrs
Bonjour and AIM bubbles on the Mac. Became Messages when iMessage needed a desktop home.
Messaging/Replaced by successor+39
Meta
RIP
Poke
2012–2014 · 2 yrs
Facebook’s first Snapchat clone. Ephemeral photos, forgotten in months.
Messaging/Lost to a competitor+35