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WhatsApp Rival Hike Ends Its Game In India

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Kavin Bharti Mittal, the founder and CEO of Hike messaging app, has announced that they are shutting down the application from the app stores. The CEO and Founder announced this news in his Twitter on January 6.

Mittal stated that users can download their data inside the application itself, but the end of this messaging app does not mean that it is an end to other apps in development by the company. Kavin Bharati Mittal also mentioned that the company would be further focusing on Rush and Vibe, that will be using Hike emojis and have minigames as well. 

Rush is a gaming platform which offers bite-sized games like carrom and ludo. It is quite similar to WinZo and is available on the App Store, whereas for the Android version it will soon be available on the Google Play Store. Whereas for Vibe, the social media platform has evolved from a section with the Hike known as HikeLand. It is an approval-based community app where users can join by requesting an invite on Vibe after entering their phone numbers.

Mittal also stated that he feels India won’t be having its own messenger because the global apps are too strong to compete with unless the nation bans Western organizations. The major reason behind Hike’s shutdown is still a mystery to all, despite the fact that there is a surge in demand for homegrown apps.

Hike was once seen as a major competitor to messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Viber and Facebook Messenger. In 2017, Hike even introduced a UPI payment-enabled mobile wallet called the Hike Wallet. By 2019, the messaging app had more than 2 million active users and the app grew by 33 percent. The company was also planning to generate revenue from the app in 2020 after putting a lot of emphasis on generating AI-based stickers.