Embrace HTML5, Flash is gone

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When HTML5 came out, the prediction of Flash being eliminated was one step closer to being realized. Although Adobe has been trying its best to improve the practicality and compatibility of Flash through updates and maintenance, its declining situation remains unchanged. However, since July this year, Mozilla has banned Firefox from running all Adobe Flash versions including 18.0.0.203 and below on all platforms. It is no wonder that it is because of the old problem of security vulnerabilities.

Recently, many users have begun to complain that their browsers crash when loading Flash plug-ins, which has prompted Firefox and Chrome to consider whether they should continue to support Flash. Chrome has even temporarily turned off Flash.

Large video sites such as YouTube and live streaming site Twitch have also completed or are about to complete the transition from Flash to HTML5, which is why when you open YouTube recently, it always shows that Flash crashes and you cannot watch it.

Judging from the trend of major websites embracing HTML5, the browser no longer supporting Flash may really come. For browser manufacturers and websites, this will not bring much loss. On the contrary, they believe that de-Flashing is to eliminate the dross. In such an environment, the most hurt is of course Abobe, followed by Flash game developers.

To be honest, Flash games did bring a lot of fun to many people when they first became popular on PCs. Although most Flash games now seem like "third-rate works" cobbled together with various patches, Flash's impact on the gaming industry is extremely profound. Flash games have gradually spread with their advantages such as simple production, easy operation, no installation required, and small file size. It's a pity that Flash games have not been accepted by the mainstream until now.

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The pinnacle of pure puzzle Flash games: Nekogames' "Scout" series has been released almost once a year since 2007, which shows how popular it is; and the launch of "Kingdom Rush" and "Kantai Collection" also made people more or less recognize Flash games. However, when mobile games and the Unity engine became popular, almost all excellent games on Flash chose to be ported, and the experience after porting even exceeded that of the original version.

This is just a statement from the macro perspective of the market, so what about the personal standpoint of Flash game makers? Kongregate, a web game site under Gamestop, has also recently switched to HTML5, but John Cooney, the producer of the site, said he still doesn't want to believe this fact. He remembers that in 2010, someone told him that Flash would decline, but at that time he thought it was just a joke because according to Kongregate's monitoring, Flash games were still very popular at that time.

The Flash game "Alien Hominids" designed by Tom Fulp, the webmaster of Newgrounds.com, and Dan Paladin, the webmaster of synj.net, once caused quite a stir on the Internet. In 2002, Dan Paladin established Behemoth Studio to remake it and launched a home console version. In 2008, the second game "Castle Destroyer" was launched, which achieved a record of nearly 800,000 downloads worldwide.

In Tom Fulp's view, Flash is the best tool for him to enter the gaming field. He has been a die-hard fan of Flash since 1998. Tom Fulp believes that Flash can enable many novice game developers to quickly integrate into this industry. It's a pity that the current performance of Flash is too disappointing.

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Edmund McMillen, the developer of "Super Meat Boy", also used Flash to develop games in 2001, but currently he only uses it to create animations and execute some simple programs. Edmund McMillen believes that while Flash is easy to use, it also has disadvantages such as lack of professionalism and inability to achieve deep entertainment. In this gaming industry that emphasizes creativity and diversity of elements at all times, Flash is becoming increasingly unable to cope with the demands.

The final step that will cause Flash to completely fall is probably that browsers will no longer provide support. Before that, Flash game developers and manufacturers must consider how to survive in the future, and they must also constantly add new knowledge in game development technology. In the process of shifting positions, some developers may be eliminated.

In fact, Kingdom Rush has set a good example. Of course, there are also excellent works such as Cursed Treasure. With the popularity and convenience of mobile platforms, the speed of game dissemination will be faster. From the current situation, mobile platforms will become the closest paradise for Flash game developers. As for Flash, it may become a "gadget" for presenting the initial creation concept of the game and animation production.