Skype Makes Group Video Calling Free

Skype is one of the best and most popular services for video calls, but one of the most abnormal things about it has always been its lack of free group video conferencing. While Google Hangouts has offered this totally free of charge since the beginning of time (or since May of 2013, when it was released), Microsoft’s service has always charged $4.99 for the privilege. Today, that’s changed – Skype has just formally announced that video conferencing will now be available free of charge.

The feature is enabled starting today for Windows desktop (note: not users of the Windows Store application), Mac, and Xbox One users. Phillip Snalune, General Manager of Consumer Marketing at Microsoft, says that this will be coming across more platforms (including, hopefully, Skype’s full suite of mobile applications) in due time.

Skype has posted a tutorial teaching people how to make video calls now that more people can, which you can check out below. So will you and your friends be taking advantage of Skype’s new party trick, or have you already moved over to Hangouts? Let us know what you think in the comments.