Free karaoke 'em up Twitch Sings is leaving the stage
Out of breath.
Sorry, Twitch Sings. We've had a good night of belting the classics, but we've all had a few and our throats have all gone a little hoarse - it's time to call it a day. After a year and a half, Twitch is raising the curtain on their sing-a-long streaming platform next January to focus on "broader tools and services" for music on the site.
Developed in partnership with the rhythm game maestros over at Harmonix, Twitch Sings let you watch your favourite streamers belt out a few songs, take requests, and collaborate with friends on the virtual stage. This week, however, Twitch announced they'd be closing the karaoke bar on New Year's Day - just in time to get in one last round of Auld Lang Syne.
"As we look to the future, we have decided to invest in broader tools and services that will help support and grow the entire music community on Twitch. Because of this, we have made the difficult decision to close Twitch Sings on January 1, 2021. This community has inspired us with their talent and passion, and we thank you all for what you’ve given to Twitch Sings over the years."
While Twitch don't explain the reasoning behind broadening their focus, it may simply be that Twitch Sings wasn't drawing in the crowds. PC Gamer report that, out of the general Music category's 3.6 million followers on the site, Twitch Sings only accounts for 161,000 of them. Fair dos, it's Saturday morning right now, but the top Sings stream is currently topping out at 350-ish viewers.
To close the show out on a bang, Twitch are re-opening the entire backlog of 400+ songs for performance. On December 1st, they'll start delisting videos per their "contractual obligations". On January 1st, the game will go offline for good. More deets on the shutdown and how they'll affect vods, clips and duets can be found over on the Twitch Sings FAQ.