Only a month off from their decision to scale back Soapbox, Microsoft has decided to close the service altogether. Soapbox launched as a YouTube competitor in 2006, but failed to gain foothold on the market. Redmond’s announcement last month stated that they intended on transforming Soapbox into a forum where bloggers and citizen journalists could post videos relevant to MSN’s focal points (entertainment, lifestyle, finance etc).

Neowin caught wind from a Microsoft spokesperson that MSN would stop offering Soapbox on August 31. From July 29 onward, users will not be able to submit new videos. To safeguard any desired content, you’ll have to download it prior to the end of next month. Microsoft plans to help with the preservation of your media by offering instructions on backing it up.

The company claims to have 88 million unique users of MSN video, who watch 480 million videos each month. Soapbox will join Popfly and Microsoft Money in the loser’s lounge as Redmond clears a path for upcoming services like their Spotify competitor.