Facebook intends to shut down Facebook Gaming, which allows users to watch and play video games on demand and competes with Amazon’s Twitch app, CNBC reported, citing news.ro.

Starting October 28, Facebook Gaming will no longer be available on iOS and Android, and gaming features will remain available through the main Facebook app.

“We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you’ve done to create a thriving community for players and fans since the launch of this app. This was truly a community initiative to bring new gaming features to Facebook,” reads the Facebook Gaming app update.

The company also said that “despite this news, our mission to connect players, fans, and creators with the games they love hasn’t changed, and you’ll still be able to find your games, streamers, and groups when you visit Games in the Facebook app “.

Facebook Gaming, launched more than two years ago when the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a boom in both gaming and video game viewing, was seen as a potential threat to Twitch, the dominant service in the market.

Facebook, owned by new parent company Meta, is trying to get a foothold in the game streaming market. According to a report by research company Streamlabs, in the second quarter of 2022, Facebook Gaming accounted for only 7.9% of the market share in terms of hours watched, behind Twitch (76.7%) and YouTube (15.4%).

Facebook isn’t the first internet giant to try and fail to replicate the Twitch formula. In 2020, Microsoft shut down its own streaming service, Mixer, after spending millions of dollars to get famous Fortnite player Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to stream exclusively on its service.

YouTube, Twitch’s closest competitor, has been more successful in reducing Twitch’s dominance. Recently, the company’s YouTube Gaming division has managed to attract some of the best talent from Twitch, including Ludwig Agren, Rachel Hofstetter and Timothy Betar, better known online as “Ludwig”, “Valkyrie” and “TimTetman”.