90s instant messaging service shuts down after 28 years — ICQ will stop working from June 26

VOIP and messaging platform ICQ finally shurs down
(Image credit: ICQ)

Once popular messaging service ICQ (short for I Seek You) will finally shut its operations on June 26, almost 28 years since its launch in 1996. The messaging platform peaked at nine million users and had 2.5 million daily active users. The number of users it was able to have globally was remarkable at the time, given that most users were on dial-up connections and DSL internet was brand new and limited to a handful of countries.

AOL acquired ICQ from Mirabilis in 1998 for $407 million. In 2010, Mail.Ru, later renamed VK, acquired the platform because it was trendy in Russia. The company intended to modernize the app while making it cross-platform-compatible.

ICQ now recommends its existing users migrate towards a Russian-based social media service, VK, which acquired this messaging system from AOL. VK did try to modernize ICQ by developing apps for Android and iOS but eventually gave up. Despite this announcement, ICQ's X account hinted at a return. Apart from feeling nostalgic, many would doubt if ICQ could retain its once-dominant position in a time with many such apps. The migration process differs from when MSN Messenger and its chat rooms were closed, transferring users to Skype.

The silent demise of ICQ, in a way, reflects the current state of communication through the internet as people use WhatsApp and other mobile-based communication while using social media services like Facebook, X, and others. Russia has its social media platform, VK, much like China's platforms. There is a saturation of social media and cross-platform messaging platforms with the ability to integrate voice and camera conversations and make online payments. To its credit, ICQ was able to exist in some form, outlasting services offered by MSN, AOL, Yahoo, and social media sites like MySpace, Orkut, and Google.

Irrespective of ICQ's cryptic post about its comeback, ICQ's legacy since the 90s is respectable, along with its influence on its users during the pre-social media days. ICQ will always live on in users' minds, such as those who have made long-lasting friendships and relationships thanks to the messaging platform. Apps and social media services may shut down eventually, but the memories made on these platforms will always live on.

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh
Contributing Writer

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh has been in the Indian PC hardware community since the early 2000s and has been building PCs, contributing to many Indian tech forums, & blogs. He operated Hardware BBQ for 11 years and wrote news for eTeknix & TweakTown before joining Tom's Hardware team. Besides tech, he is interested in fighting games, movies, anime, and mechanical watches.

  • King_V
    and had 2.5 daily active users

    I'm hoping this was meant to be 2.5 million users. 2.5 users is gonna be a bit difficult to explain.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    I can see it becoming Russia's "official" IM client, like QQ to China, especially if they develop their own OS. Between Telegram and Discord, as well as social media oriented things like Whatsapp, I don't see another service breaking through worldwide unless they do something very different
    Reply
  • CmdrShepard
    R.I.P. ICQ, you served us well... I remeber using it back in the day. It was simple but at least it wasn't ad-infested with premium upsells like the messengers of today.
    Reply
  • DSzymborski
    Yup, I had a pretty low ICQ number back in the day (153167). Used it a lot to talk to other friends in college in 1996 and 1997, though AOLIM kinda surpassed that in my usage. Logged in last month out of curiosity and I can still get in, but my contact list was all gone. I had been curious to see if it had been queueing up any unread messages for the last 25 years or so.
    Reply
  • King_V
    DSzymborski said:
    Yup, I had a pretty low ICQ number back in the day (153167). Used it a lot to talk to other friends in college in 1996 and 1997, though AOLIM kinda surpassed that in my usage. Logged in last month out of curiosity and I can still get in, but my contact list was all gone. I had been curious to see if it had been queueing up any unread messages for the last 25 years or so.
    Thinking back, I remember being introduced to it by a friend who had a 5-digit ICQ number (in the 58,xxx range if I recall correctly), and mine was a 1xx,xxx number, I wanna say in a rough ballpark of yours, though I am not 100% sure.

    Can't recall when I last logged in, though. Nor am I even 100% sure of my username. I know that the email I was using at the time no longer exists, so even if I were of a mind to log back in/password recovery/whatever, I probably couldn't.
    Reply
  • brandonjclark
    Count me as someone who never used this service.
    Reply
  • TheOtherOne
    King_V said:
    I'm hoping this was meant to be 2.5 million users. 2.5 users is gonna be a bit difficult to explain.
    Not if you think the entire userbase was the lead cast of Two and Half Men! 😏
    Reply
  • King_V
    TheOtherOne said:
    Not if you think the entire userbase was the lead cast of Two and Half Men! 😏
    :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
    Reply