Cakewalk Cease Product Development

Gibson have announced that they are closing down Cakewalk. Product development has ceased and the team of software engineers and other employees are now out of work as of November 17th. Sad news indeed, Cakewalk was for many, their first computer sequencing experience, starting with thier first MIDI sequencer as running in MS-DOS. They are celebrating 30 years this year.

Here's a flashback to how that first DOS based app looked:

SONAR was launched in 2009 as a fully fledged audio and MIDI workstation DAW and became the company's flasghip product.

SONAR has become the DAW of choice for many - although still PC based. They were amongst the first to incorporate touchscreen functions in Windows 10 as well as it being a  highly workflow focused DAW.

In recent years, the company was working on a Mac version together with partners Code Warriors, though it looks like now, that will never happen. Cakewalk also have a number of highly regarded plug-ins and virtual instruments in their range.

Gibson cited changes in the market with their focus moving more towards consumer friendly products and therefore decided to close them down. Its not the first time Gibson has shut down software products from their range - anyone remember Opcode?

Though Gibson are thought by many to be in their own financial troubles, and the recent illegal hardwood investigation can't have helped much.

Cakewalk issued a statement via their forum that "Cakewalk's servers will continue to operate, you will still have access to all of your online assets, and your software will continue to work normally. A dedicated team has been established during this transition period to continue to serve the Cakewalk community."

Probably best to make plans to retrieve any content and critical account stuff, though as no time period has been specified. It is not known if there are any buyers waiting in the wings to step in and take over.

Our thoughts go out to those who have lost their jobs and we wish them the best in their endeavors.

More Information

• Cakewalk.com

Cakewalk Social

• Cakewalk Coming Back as Sonar From BandLab 10-Jun-23
• Presentation: Cakewalk - A Free DAW For PC 17-Sep-20
• The Latest News On Cakewalk 22-Oct-18
• Get SONAR For Free 05-Apr-18
• Cakewalk Lives - Gibson Sell To Bandlab 23-Feb-18