Skip to main content

Facebook Gaming is shutting down its app in October

It looks like the Facebook Gaming app will shut down on October 22 for both iOS and Android. However, users can still download their gaming app search data while it is still functional.

“We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you for everything that you’ve done to build a thriving community for gamers and fans since this app first launched. This was truly a community-led effort to bring new gaming features to Facebook,” said the Facebook Gaming Team in a statement.

“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 Gaming in the Facebook app.”

😬 pic.twitter.com/P6mDEFRheo

— Gothalion (@Gothalion) August 29, 2022

While the app is being shut down, Facebook’s game streaming services will still be online. Streamer Gothalion posted the notification he received about the shutdown, which is notable considering he spent the last 24 months on the platform in an exclusivity deal. He returned to streaming on Twitch last month.

In 2020, Microsoft announced that it would be shutting down its own live streaming service, Mixer, and transitioned all of its content creators and users to Facebook Gaming.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has has a rough go of it lately. It recently announced that it would increase the price of the Quest 2 VR headset. The company has also dedicated resources to building out the Metaverse, but when CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed his digital avatar in Horizon Worlds a few weeks ago, the internet didn’t take took kindly to it.

George Yang
George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…
What does meta mean in gaming?
Soldiers fight in a shopping plaza in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The world of gaming has a language all its own that goes beyond simple slang. Each genre can develop its own terms and lingo that can sound completely alien to an outsider, but there are some that are more common than others. Terms like DPS are shared between the best multiplayer games in almost any genre and can easily be understood once you know what it stands for. On the other hand, meta is a very common word thrown around in competitive games that is harder to decode. If you hear people talking about the meta being broken, the meta shifting, or complaining about someone not playing the meta and can't make heads or tails of it, we'll help you understand this essential term in gaming.
What does meta mean in gaming?

In games, the meta refers to the current best or most optimal way to play. This can be the use of a specific gun, character, move, team composition, or strategy that the community has discovered -- intentionally or not. Metas are developed over time as the community plays the game and begins to discover which options are simply better than others in most, if not all, situations.

Read more
PC classic Bloons works surprisingly well as a strategy card game
Two monkeys battle in Bloons Card Storm.

If you spent any time on a computer in the late 2000s, there's a good chance you recognize the name Bloons. The colorful series a gaming staple of the era, with five games and multiple updates to each released between 2007 and 2009. It began as a browser-based puzzle game about popping balloons, but quickly evolved into a surprisingly robust tower defense game that's still going strong.

The series is about to change once again thanks to Bloons Card Storm. This time, developer Ninja Kiwi is reimagining its iconic game as a deck-building strategy game. That's a surprising shift on paper, but it's one that actually fits in practice. I gave the upcoming card game a spin, trying out a few of its early levels. While it took me some time to get used to it, I can already see the markings of a mobile hit here.

Read more
Don’t skip Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s great new mode during its beta
A player holds a dead player as a body shield in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 begins tomorrow, and it features eight different modes for players to check out. While I'm guessing most will want to play iconic modes like Team Deathmatch (TDM) or Domination, I recommend you give Kill Order a shot.

Kill Order is a mode new in Black Ops 6 that finds a way to twist the core TDM formula to make it less chaotic. I spoke to developers at Treyarch about its creation and learned that Kill Order works as well as it does because it was built around the aspects of Call of Duty that players like best.
A high-value mode
At its core, Kill Order is TDM with a twist. The basics will be familiar as two teams of six compete to get the most kills, earn points, and win a match. To help focus the action, one player on each team is named the "High Value Target." This "HVT," as the game and developers call it, is powered up with extra armor, directional indicators for other players on the minimap, and the ability to earn more score with each enemy kill. They're not a juggernaut or anything, but in a one-on-one between an HVT and an enemy player, the HVT is more likely to win.

Read more