It has been a tough month for the Messenger Plus! community, with news the software has a new distributor and that its developer Patchou now only maintains a limited role. After weeks of unanswered emails and issues about poor relationships with the new developer Yuna Software, there appears to have been a crucial turning point that may mean our these worries are not valid.


"Back to the roots ... for a fresh start"

This was the title of a post Patchou made to his community on Thursday, where he addressed the concerns of its members who feel that the software has taken a turn in the wrong direction. Patchou has since attempted to reassure his users and had some good news to tell:



Although Yuna Software is still present and the current distributor of Messenger Plus! Live, its overseeing powers have been reduced. Patchou is sovereign again, which is a great thing. Add to this that there with be several new developers working on Plus! may mean more features and a smaller timeframe between releases.

Patchou has changed his avatar of the forums to one he used when developing Messenger Plus! 3 as a reflection on returning to his roots.


Willz leaves skinning

Following from our post on the decline of Messenger skinning, Willz has told the Messenger Plus! community that he intends to leave skinning due to time constraints and creative differences between Yuna Software. Although he did suggest if improvements were made, he would return again. Nevertheless it is still a blow for skinning as there will no doubtedly be less activity from someone who has done much to keep the skinning community alive in recent years.

Read Patchou's full announcement