End of an Era: Microsoft to Shut Down Skype in May and Replace It With Free Version of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft has confirmed plans to shut down Skype in May and replace it with a free version of Microsoft Teams.

Confirmation comes at a time when the likes of WhatsApp, Zoom, FaceTime, and Messenger dominate communication via voice over IP (VoIP), consigning direct calls to cellphones from the likes of Skype to the history books.

As reported by The Verge, current Skype users will be able to log into the Microsoft Teams app and have all their content (message history, contacts etc) available without the need to create another account. Meanwhile, Microsoft will phase out domestic or international call support.

Skype users also have the option of exporting their Skype data, including photos and conversation history, and Microsoft has made a tool to help those who don’t want to move to Teams view their current Skype chat history.

You have 60 days to decide, as Skype goes offline from May 5. Either way, Microsoft will honor existing Skype credits, but will no longer offer new customers access to paid Skype features that let you make or receive international and domestic calls.

What’s truly lost with the Skype shutdown, then, is the ability to make calls to cellphones. Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft said that while telephony functionality was useful at the height of Skype’s popularity, it is now less so.

“Part of the reason is we look at the usage and the trends, and this functionality was great at the time when voice over IP (VoIP) wasn’t available and mobile data plans were very expensive,” said Amit Fulay, vice president of product at Microsoft. “If we look at the future, that’s not a thing we want to be in.”

Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion back in 2011, saying at the time the deal was about “deepening the company’s longstanding focus on real-time video and voice communications, and providing new market opportunities serving Skype’s 160-plus million active users.”

At one point Skype became an important part of all Windows devices and was even touted as an Xbox console selling point. But, by Microsoft’s own admission, the Skype userbase has been flat in recent years. The focus now is on Microsoft Teams for consumers.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.