Facebook Rolling Out Features for Free Video Calls Including 50 People

Facebook on Friday, announced the launch of a new video-calling feature to socialize with friends and family during the quarantine.

Messenger Rooms?

Facebook’s new feature will be entirely free – titled Messenger Rooms. This app extension will allow users to host video calls with up to 50 people participating at any time. This, however, is almost certain doom for similar apps – Zoom and Houseparty – whose usage went over the roof the past month due to the pandemic. Zoom’s stocks had previously been up 3%, but as soon as the news of Facebook’s new feature hit, dropped 5%.

Messenger Rooms is the flagship of the company’s new video-calling service, and what it basically does is, it allows group video calls of up to 50 people, surpassing Messenger’s video call limitation of eight.

The 50-person limit however, won’t immediately be available, with it being smaller at launch and gradually building up to the promised 50, a Facebook spokesman told CNBC, as the limit will vary for users.

As a small comparison, Zoom allows 100 people to video chat for free for the first 40 minutes, with Houseparty supporting up to eight.

Messenger Rooms won’t have a time limit on the calls, and will include various extras like AR filters, with hosts also having the power to lock calls and remove users. Any and all Facebook and Messenger users can create a group in the new feature and invite even non-Facebook users to join.

The company will also be doubling WhatsApp’s video call limit from four to eight people, and announced a new video call feature on Facebook Dating for users to go on virtual dates. Additional expansions will be coming to Facebook and Instagram’s live-stream features.