This week, Twitter announced the decision to shut down its livestreaming platform, Periscope, next year in March 2021.
The announcement was revealed in a Medium post. Twitter admits “the Periscope app is in an unsustainable maintenance-mode state, and has been for a while.” The company goes on to mention a clear and consistent drop in the platform’s usage over the years. Twitter is confident that if they continue to support Periscope, they will continue to see a decline in usage. Ultimately, their investment in Periscope will lose the company money.
“We probably would have made this decision sooner if it weren’t for all of the projects we re-prioritized due to the events of 2020,” Twitter revealed in the Medium post.
The weeks leading up to the shutdown
While Periscope might not be shutting down for another few months, new accounts currently can’t be made on the platform. Twitter shut down the ability to make accounts this week. Additionally, users now aren’t able to purchase coins and tip them to streamers. Twitter is encouraging its Periscope users to use up all of their coins by March 31, which is the likely shutdown date.
Creators should cash out before the end of March
Super Broadcasters, aka Periscope creators, are encouraged to exchange their in-app tips for money before April 30th. Applications to become a Super Broadcaster will be open to creators until February 1st, 2021.
The Periscope website, though is shutting down, will stay as a read-only archive for public broadcasters. It’s uncertain if Twitter has any plans to release another livestreaming platform after Periscope shuts down.
Image courtesy: Twitter