RIP Skype: Microsoft finally pulls the plug

Updated March 3, 2025, 7:03 a.m. | By East Coast Breakfast / Skyye Ndlovu

Microsoft has announced they’re shutting down Skype.

Today, we gather in the virtual waiting room of life to mourn the passing of an internet legend – Skype.

The once-mighty titan of video calls and awkwardly frozen screens, is being shut down by Microsoft in May, and honestly, we should have seen this coming.

Since its birth in 2003, Skype was the way to stay connected before FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Zoom swooped in like attention-seeking younger siblings.

It was the app that helped long-distance lovers whisper sweet nothings and also put job applicants through painful “Tell me about yourself” video interviews.

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Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion (about R 61.7 billion) in 2011 – a deal that, in hindsight, aged about as well as expired milk.

Skype was folded into Office, got tangled in the wreckage of Windows Phone (RIP to those, too), and was slowly overshadowed by Microsoft Teams.

Competition from apps like FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Google Meet further sealed Skype’s fate. Now, Microsoft (in a rather cold farewell) is pushing users to just use Teams instead.

Jeff Teper, Microsoft’s president of collaborative apps, gave Skype a polite send-off, saying it helped shape modern communication and supported “countless meaningful moments.”

Touching words, although it’s hard to ignore the fact that Microsoft has been actively replacing it for years.

Thankfully, while Skype is officially dead, Microsoft has assured users that they can log into Microsoft Teams using their Skype IDs. This means all your chats and contacts will be seamlessly migrated, making the transition smooth and (mostly) pain-free.

Starting in May 2025, Skype will no longer be available. Over the coming days you can sign in to Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype account to stay connected with all your chats and contacts. Thank you for being part of Skype pic.twitter.com/EZ2wJLOQ1a
— Skype (@Skype) February 28, 2025

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So, let’s take a moment to remember Skype in its prime: the pixelated video calls, the choppy connections, the weird “bloop” sound effects, and that infamous blue interface that never really changed.

It may be gone, but it will never be forgotten – mostly because we’ll always associate it with the phrase: “Can you hear me now? No? Hold on, let me restart.”

Rest easy, old friend.