Skype is officially dead

After 22 years bringing us closer to distant friends, family members, and more, Skype has officially shut down. The decision to bring Skype to an end was announced earlier this year, and now the communication service is gone for good.

If you go onto the Skype website now, you'll be greeted with a message revealing that the service is indeed gone, and that if you want a Microsoft method of communication, you'll have to log onto Teams. You can swap all your contacts and details pretty easily, if you want to keep your account settings from Skype.

While TeamSpeak and Discord offered gamers alternatives to Skype back in the 2010s, it felt like the real death knell for the service came in the pandemic, when despite it offering the same functions as Zoom, Teams, and more, it seemed everyone ignored Skype after it had been by our side for decades.

With so many competitors available, both for gamers and those who use video and voice calls for work, it just seemed like Skype struggled to stay afloat. Its unique selling point wasn't so unique anymore, and despite it carrying on, its best years were far behind it as we reached the 2020s.