‘Users have moved to other platforms’ — BlackBerry Messenger shuts down on May 31

Blackberry has announced that its messaging platform will be shut down on May 31, because “users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on”.

In a statement issued on Thursday on its official blog, the technology company said changing trends in the tech space has made it impossible to save the Blackberry Messenger (BBM).

“Today we’re announcing that we will be closing BBM consumer service on 31 May 2019,” the statement read.

“Three years ago, we set out to reinvigorate BBM consumer service, one of the most loved instant messaging applications, as a cross-platform service where users can not only chat and share life experiences, but also consume content and use payment services.

“We poured our hearts into making this a reality, and we are proud of what we have built to date.

“The technology industry however, is very fluid, and in spite of our substantial efforts, users have moved on to other platforms, while new users proved difficult to sign on.

“Though we are sad to say goodbye, the time has come to sunset the BBM consumer service, and for us to move on.”

BlackBerry partnered with Emtek, an Indonesia-based hardware manufacturer in 2016, to introduce new features for BlackBerry consumers.

However, with popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and a host of others, BBM was unable to gain traction among consumers.

Emtek said that BBM stickers and BBMoji can’t be exported out of the app, so you won’t be able to use them after the shutdown.

You can issue refunds of your in-app purchases for stickers that you’ve bought, though.