Houseparty shot to fame in the early days of lockdown in 2020, presenting a fun alternative to existing video call options.

The great thing about Houseparty was that you could be having a chat with someone and others would drop in, join the fun and then depart - like a party. The best thing was friends of friends - randoms - dropping in, without the formality of some other video applications.

The party ends, however, in October, with Epic Games (yes, that Epic Games), calling time on the fun. The app has been withdrawn from app stores, and in October, the service will shut down.

Houseparty is part of Epic Games, and the team says that they are working on ways for people to interact socially across the Epic Games family.

Those experiences, says the team in a blog post, are being designed "at metaverse scale", which is one of the reasons why the Houseparty app and community can no longer be supported.

For many, Houseparty was just one fun outlet during pandemic lockdowns. In reality, many found that Houseparty didn't have the quality or practicality of those systems which were originally built for businesses but soon found consumer fame.

Of course, Zoom is the natural alternative, but you can find a full list of alternative video apps right here.