Facebook Games, the thing you probably never used, is leaving Facebook Messenger

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Did you know that there were Instant Games inside Facebook’s Messenger app? They won’t be there for long, as Facebook is moving them out to the Facebook Gaming tab.

That marks the latest place that Facebook has parked the selection of Instant Games, which include classics like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and super hot stuff like Words With Friends.

Facebook Instant Games are leaving Messenger for good

When Instant Games arrived on Facebook in 2016, there was only a small number of games you could challenge your friends to. That number grew over time, with Facebook also bringing Instant Games into Groups, then into the Lite app. Now the only place you’ll be able to play the HTML5 games is from the Facebook Gaming tab, starting later this summer.

• iOS users of Messenger will be the first to lose access to Instant Games, with their removal later this summer
• Gameplay will move to the Facebook Gaming tab to begin with, leaving thread updates and chatbots inside Messenger for the time being
• There’s no news on when Android users will have to use the main app again to play Instant Games

I think this will be welcome news to most. Facebook Messenger has become a bloated mess over the years, with Facebook stuffing everything it could into the chat app. Now it seems it’s reversed course, pulling features out of Messenger and rolling them back into the main site.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.