Skip to main content

Yahoo Livetext and Games face axe in ‘streamlining’ plan

Chop, chop, chop. Yahoo’s ongoing cuts may have some wondering if the company is opening a butcher shop, but the Web giant insists it’s merely streamlining its business, stripping away the fat to improve efficiency and make it a more attractive package for potential buyers.

Following a recent announcement that it will shed 15 percent of its 11,000-strong workforce and shutter a load of online magazines, the company said over the weekend that it’s also culling its Livetext and Yahoo Games products, as well as a number of regional properties such as Yahoo Astrology that operates in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and India.

Recommended Videos

Livetext, which closes at the end of this month, lasted a mere eight months. The app, a mix of instant chat and FaceTime-style video, was a curious effort as it had no audio, leaving users to gawk at one another while tapping out messages.

According to Yahoo, the idea was that doing away with audio placed your real-time reactions at the center of the conversation, though it’s quite possible many of those reactions included frustrated users mouthing the words “let’s switch to WhatsApp” to each other.

The company said it plans to “incorporate the learnings and features into Yahoo products including Yahoo Messenger,” its core messaging platform.

As for Yahoo Games, that’s being shown the door on May 13 after 18 years of operation. Many of the games were removed from the portal in 2014, and now the Sunnyvale, California-based company has decided to send the remaining titles the same way in a couple of months’ time. And Yahoo Astrology, in case you were wondering, will disappear “in the coming weeks.”

In the last year the business has also axed Yahoo Screen and Yahoo Maps.

Yahoo said during its last earnings call it planned to simplify its business by focusing on seven core consumer products: Mail, Search, Tumblr, News, Sports, Finance, and Lifestyle. Struggling in recent years, the company is reportedly looking to sell its core Web business, with the Wall Street Journal in recent days suggesting it’s currently reaching out to “a list of about 40 potential suitors, including Verizon and Time,” as well as several private-equity firms.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Exclusive: Samsung TVs are getting a free new app today featuring original games
Exclusive: Select Samsung Smart TVs and monitors will get a new GameBreaks app starting today alongside an original new puzzle game.
A Samsung executive stands in front of a GameBreaks app screen.

A free new app will start rolling out on Samsung Smart TVs today: GameBreaks. It's a new gaming app which will feature an array of original titles that will be expanded over time. The app is launching with a brand new puzzle game today called Ripplash.

GameBreaks is the next step in an ongoing gaming push for Samsung. In 2022, the company rolled out a Samsung Gaming Hub app to select TVs that pulled together cloud streaming services like GeForce Now. It has built on that strategy over the past three years, adding Xbox Game Pass to the mix, creating its own controller, and launching original games in the form of The Six and Rivals Arena.

Read more
I played 9 games at Tribeca Fest. They all need to be on your radar
A character stands in a church in Mio: Memories of Orbit.

Here's a tip for anyone who's trying to scout out the next great indie game: Pay attention to Tribeca Fest. A few years ago, the film festival expanded its modern, multimedia approach to include video games as official selections. In that time, it has showcased a who's who of indie games that went on to become critical darlings. We're talking games like Blue Prince, Immortality, Despelote, and Chants of Sennaar -- all of which went on to become some of the best reviewed games of the 2020's here at Digital Trends. You will always find something truly special at Tribeca Fest.

This year's show is no different. Nine upcoming games were in competition at the festival this year, and all of them are poised to become breakout indies. Because we love nothing more than scouting promising indies, Digital Trends attended this year's Tribeca Fest and checked out what this year's show had to offer. From a stylish beat-em-up to a 90s coming of age tale soundtracked by the likes of Devo, these nine games should be on your radar.

Read more
Epic Games brings down the hammer on Fortnite cheat makers
Fortnite Star Wars Visitor with Lightsaber

Epic Games has filed a new lawsuit against cheat makers Sincey Cheats and Vanta Cheats, citing both violations of Epic's terms in Fortnite and alleging that the defendants fraudulently impersonated Epic Games in an attempt to revoke the takedown of several YouTube videos. While lawsuits against cheat makers are nothing new (Bungie, Activision, Ubisoft, and Tencent Games have all previously filed lawsuits against distributors), impersonating an Epic employee is unusual.

The lawsuit targets not only the creators of these tools but also groups that resold the software. The cheats allowed players to see through walls and use auto-aim against opponents, rendering in-game cover meaningless and ensuring that every bullet hit its mark. According to Epic Games, Sincey Cheats — also known as Ediz Atas — has created and sold cheat software since January 2023.

Read more