Twitch Sings, the streaming platform’s karaoke game, will shut down on January 1, 2021, after just more than two years since it was announced at TwitchCon 2018.
In Twitch Sings, streamers sang along by themselves or with a partner to a song of their choice, with viewers cheering them on and throwing out challenges. The feature, however, will not be part of Twitch’s future.
We've made the difficult decision to close Twitch Sings on January 1, 2021 to invest in broader tools and music services on Twitch. Thank you for rocking our world. For more info: https://t.co/ItImv3u75v pic.twitter.com/jJqICzp8Ul
— Twitch Sings (@TwitchSings) September 4, 2020
In a blog post, Twitch said that on December 1, it will start removing Twitch Sings videos and clips from the platform, with the game to stop working a month after.
Fans of Twitch Sings still have about four months with the game though, and they will be busy as Twitch has released its backlog of more than 400 new songs.
The decision “to invest in broader tools and music services” does not provide a clear explanation as to why Twitch Sings is shutting down, but it may be linked to the recently revealed partnership between Twitch and Amazon Music that brings the livestreaming platform’s functions into the latter’s app.
“Looking ahead, we’re excited to share more about the future of music on Twitch and how we’re working to make Twitch the best place to bring you closer to the artists and music you love,” Twitch said, hinting that there is something else planned for music lovers on the platform.
There was speculation that the Twitch Sings shutdown may be related to the influx of DMCA takedown requests that Twitch received in June due to the background music used by streamers. When Digital Trends reached out for confirmation, a spokesperson said that the game’s closure was not related to the DMCA requests.
Updated September 6, 2020: Added response by Twitch spokesperson denying link to DMCA takedown requests.
