SPIL Games, one of the largest online webgames companies, has announced that all 47 of its online portals are now based in HTML5, with the firm saying that the web language is set to replace Adobe's Flash as the standard for games on the web within three years, according to a report on Develop.
The Netherlands-based company put the decision to move toward HTML5 down to the number of mobile users it found were trying to access its sites. A company spokesperson stated that mobile users account for close to a million visitors each month, with 52 percent of this number coming from Apple devices that are unable to view or play Flash content.
SPIL Games CEO Peter Driessen said that Apple CEO Steve Jobs "was right when he said Flash isn’t working on mobile systems -- that’s what I hear from developers as well."
While SPIL is advocating the move to HTML5, it has only converted its portals to the format -- most of its games are still in Flash. But the company is clearly making the move away from Adobe's solution.
To incentivize developers to switch from developing webgames in Flash to HTML5, SPIL is offering prizes totaling $50,000 (£41,000) for the best HTML5 game, encouraging the potential it says is "hampered by different protocols, operating systems, and platform-approval processes within the mobile world".
"I believe HTML5 will rise above Flash on mobile," Driessen told Develop. "In fact I think in three years the majority of web games will be in HTML5. It’s inevitable that it will become the programming standard of the future.”
When asked whether SPIL was concerned that Apple could abandon HTML5 in the future, just as they did Flash, Driessen said: “I don’t think Apple will back off from using HTML5; it really is the next big thing, and I think Apple will continue to support until it becomes the standard."
“It will become the big game changer, and our move to HTML5 will be the beginning of a revolution where more developers will move away from Flash and produce great content.”
Jobs said "Flash isn't working on mobile systems"? Isn't that sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, since he specifically PREVENTED IT from working on *his* mobile system?
Yah, that is too true. Jobs purposefully gimped Flash on IPhone so then he could point and say "see Flash sucks and it is failing". What a joke.
But Jobs forgot about one thing, Android. Android 2.2 supports Flash. Android is growing and it is growing FAST. Faster than all of the other mobile markets combined.
Personally I wonder if this guy might not be on the take from Apple just a little bit to say and do these things against Flash. Apple has it out against Flash and Adobe something fierce.
Both of you are editing history a bit; he said that Adobe was doing a poor job creating Flash for mobile platforms, and he wasn't going to go with an API that would create an inferior experience for Apple product users. Essentially he said Flash was bloated, buggy, slow and not cut out for touch interfaces. And it turns out, even a year later, he's still right:
I spent some time with a Flash-enabled EVO, and I also found Flash sites to be really buggy, crash-prone, slow to respond and often just blank. None of the games at Nitrome worked well; Kongregate did a bit better (though their site is almost impossible to see/read) but only with the most basic "pop the bubbles" style games. In over two hours I didn't find a Flash implementation besides a banner ad or YouTube video that I was really happy with, and in that time I also cooked the battery of the EVO (which gets hot in your hand!) completely.
Sure, blame one Droid enabled device. Flash works fine on most Droid enabled devices just fine with no issues. The reviews at places like Ars Technica prove that.
The code for Flash also could be stream lined, but what code could not be? That goes with out saying. It works, it is ever everywhere, and it is not going anywhere whatever Steve Jobs wants to happen. He is just having pie in the sky dreams. It may die someday, but it is not happening any time soon.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/mobile-flash-fail-weak-android-player-prove s-jobs-righ t
hm link shows up broken, try this http://tinyurl.com/263jtsf
Here's a quote:
"When I tried going to famous Flash game sites like Newgrounds or Addicting Games, I found that, as Steve Jobs said, “Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers.” Many of the games I loaded were slow to start and slowed the system, making it difficult to scroll around the page or tap on links. But much worse was that, even when these titles loaded, there was no way to control most of the action. Most games required keyboard or mouse actions I simply could not perform on my phone, even with its QWERTY slider. One shooter wanted me to hit the CTRL key to fire; another asked for the left mouse button."
Well, it sounds like some Flash game designers need to get on the touch finger game action. Not the PC Mouse and Key Board game action. Blaming the Android or Flash platform for those games not being designed for mobile gaming in Android is pretty short sighted.
I am sure if the Flash games were created from the ground up for mobile platforms instead of a PC things would work much better.
Flash v10.1 has full multitouch, accelerometer & gesture support.
http://blog.theflashblog.com/?p=1678
Alan is completely right. Those games are not designed for mobile support neither in performance or game design. Blaming this on the flash platform doesnt make sense.
There are still 15% of users out there on IE6! HTML5? Give me a break. None of your audience has a clue what it is. Even the latest browsers barely support it, and even the makers haven't agreed on the standard yet. It's definitely not going mainstream any time soon. Although it is very cool and would improve the web immensely
Browsers have auto-update now. Anyone still on IE6 is also on an unpatched version of XP that dates back to 2001 - they are not a potential customer. Safari, Chrome and Firefox all auto-update, so HTML5 compliance will come sooner than later and be totally transparent to the end user as to whether it is working or not.
One important thing to note is that SPIL has published HTML5 versions of its PORTALS, not its games. Nearly all of their games are still made in Flash. While it's certainly nice that they've updated their websites, this switch has done nothing to address the main concerns over publishing games in HTML5, such as developers putting the source code for their games out there on the web (unlike a compiled SWF, anyone can read your HTML).
I'm afraid I must agree with Todd on this one. The only way that HTML5 will overtake Flash in three years is if Jobs' rhetoric wins over the minds of publishers and developers. HTML5 can't do it on technical merits alone.
What portion of those 15% who still use IE6 are gamers? How many folks who use either the iphone or Android still use IE6? How many of them have installed Chrome, Mozilla, and how many of them will install IE9, which will support HTML5? The fact that some folks don't update their machines does not mean that most folks can't click the button that says "Update."
I agree that technology adoption is often remarkably slow, but I think this may be one time when we see a big change take place in relatively short period of time -- at least among the users that count for online gaming. I for one will welcome the day when I don't have to face those endless, and repeated, Flash updates. The folks who manage the development process at Adobe may be worse enemies of their platform that Jobs.
Our browsers ought to just support animation and multimedia out of the box, especially as those are things we all use and want daily. HTML5 will bring that technology to your browser. That's a big enticement for folks to push the upgrade button.
You are forgetting one important aspect of those IE6 users, They are XP or Earlier windows users. Meaning that IE9 will not be available to them without an OS upgrade. IE8 is the last IE version that will be available to XP users. Users of any Windows platform prior to XP do not even get IE7.
But even still, a lot of those IE6 users are playing Flash games on Facebook and watching video in Flash on Youtube. To expect them to upgrade to a new OS just so they can use a web standard that is not even an official standard and probably won't be for another 5 years or so, is naive.
I am looking forward to HTML5 adoption across the board, but that won't happen for a long time. I also agree with Peter, game developers will be reluctant to adopt HTML5 as their engine of choice because of the unnecessary code exposure.
It is always a safe bet to assume adoption of platforms will be slow. My experience trying to predict the future, and watching others trying to do the same, has taught me not to take any prediction too seriously. It is fun to guess, but I try not to take my guesses too seriously. So if we proceed in that spirit, I'll risk a reply to your thoughtful mail.
I know that the IE6 users are on XP, but I wrote them off to begin with as non-gamers, so I'm not sure I follow your point on that issue.
As for those real gamers who are on XP, they don't, of course, have to upgrade their OS just to get HTML5. All they have to do is download Chrome, Mozilla or Safari. And of course there are many gamers who aren't on XP or who won't be on XP in 3 years. So again, I'm not sure I understand your point.
I do, however, take your point about code exposure. Some folks will never go to HTML for fear their code will be stolen. I personally (and perhaps idiosyncratically) believe that this is red herring. There just aren't that many cases of people stealing other people's code and getting away with it. Stealing copyrighted HTML is particularly difficult, since it is so easy to check if the code for a program is stolen. It's like stealing a novel. Yes it can be done, and it is done, but it is not a common occurrence. If a book set in Paris during the French revolution begins "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," it's hard to conceal the true author because the whole work is exposed to view. The same is true with HTML. If there is a game with the same features as another game, and we check the code and see it is the same, then the gig is up. If I put up a website called Charlie's News, and it happened to have more or less the same HTML on it as the HTML for the New York Times, then I don't think I would get away with it for very long. I know that people will still see this as an issue, but I'm not sure I'm in their camp.
I don't understand why people like Steve Jobs think HTML5 will be a standard and is supported by all browers / devices in the near future, while Flash doesn't evolve in any way! The mobile hardware and OS software are improving, and if Abode releases a Flashplayer better suited for mobile devices, Flash is still the best for browser gaming in many years to come. ActionScript is very powerfull, but it lacks certain features (like touchscreen support). It's all to Adobe to support Flash.
HTML 5 won't replace Flash games or that niche until it can replace the Flash Development Kit. It's not the underlying technology which limits HTML 5 games, since already they can do what Flash does (see Google Chrome HTML 5 experiments page). Adobe is a software company which specializes in content creation so the have a big leg up on these tools with years of experience. HTML 5 delivers content better, but it doesn't actually deliver a new experiences so what is the impetus for replacement other than industry standardization?
Every one seems to miss on important drawback of HTML5, and correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't writing games in HTML5 mean that their source code if available for every one to see? For most people this is a deal breaker.
You know, that is a very very great point. The source code would be available for everyone to see right there on the web. Which would be a very bad thing.
I wonder if there could be a way to block that from happening though....
Obfuscation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obfuscated_code) only comes to mind or server run code (but that's no different from the current PHP + HTML combo).
:P
But Jobs forgot about one thing, Android. Android 2.2 supports Flash. Android is growing and it is growing FAST. Faster than all of the other mobile markets combined.
Personally I wonder if this guy might not be on the take from Apple just a little bit to say and do these things against Flash. Apple has it out against Flash and Adobe something fierce.
http://newteevee.com/2010/08/31/video-flash-on-android-is-startlingly -bad/
I spent some time with a Flash-enabled EVO, and I also found Flash sites to be really buggy, crash-prone, slow to respond and often just blank. None of the games at Nitrome worked well; Kongregate did a bit better (though their site is almost impossible to see/read) but only with the most basic "pop the bubbles" style games. In over two hours I didn't find a Flash implementation besides a banner ad or YouTube video that I was really happy with, and in that time I also cooked the battery of the EVO (which gets hot in your hand!) completely.
The code for Flash also could be stream lined, but what code could not be? That goes with out saying. It works, it is ever everywhere, and it is not going anywhere whatever Steve Jobs wants to happen. He is just having pie in the sky dreams. It may die someday, but it is not happening any time soon.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/mobile-flash-fail-weak-android-player-prove s-jobs-righ
t
hm link shows up broken, try this http://tinyurl.com/263jtsf
Here's a quote:
"When I tried going to famous Flash game sites like Newgrounds or Addicting Games, I found that, as Steve Jobs said, “Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers.” Many of the games I loaded were slow to start and slowed the system, making it difficult to scroll around the page or tap on links. But much worse was that, even when these titles loaded, there was no way to control most of the action. Most games required keyboard or mouse actions I simply could not perform on my phone, even with its QWERTY slider. One shooter wanted me to hit the CTRL key to fire; another asked for the left mouse button."
I am sure if the Flash games were created from the ground up for mobile platforms instead of a PC things would work much better.
http://blog.theflashblog.com/?p=1678
Alan is completely right. Those games are not designed for mobile support neither in performance or game design. Blaming this on the flash platform doesnt make sense.
There are still 15% of users out there on IE6! HTML5? Give me a break. None of your audience has a clue what it is. Even the latest browsers barely support it, and even the makers haven't agreed on the standard yet. It's definitely not going mainstream any time soon. Although it is very cool and would improve the web immensely
I'm afraid I must agree with Todd on this one. The only way that HTML5 will overtake Flash in three years is if Jobs' rhetoric wins over the minds of publishers and developers. HTML5 can't do it on technical merits alone.
I agree that technology adoption is often remarkably slow, but I think this may be one time when we see a big change take place in relatively short period of time -- at least among the users that count for online gaming. I for one will welcome the day when I don't have to face those endless, and repeated, Flash updates. The folks who manage the development process at Adobe may be worse enemies of their platform that Jobs.
Our browsers ought to just support animation and multimedia out of the box, especially as those are things we all use and want daily. HTML5 will bring that technology to your browser. That's a big enticement for folks to push the upgrade button.
But even still, a lot of those IE6 users are playing Flash games on Facebook and watching video in Flash on Youtube. To expect them to upgrade to a new OS just so they can use a web standard that is not even an official standard and probably won't be for another 5 years or so, is naive.
I am looking forward to HTML5 adoption across the board, but that won't happen for a long time. I also agree with Peter, game developers will be reluctant to adopt HTML5 as their engine of choice because of the unnecessary code exposure.
I know that the IE6 users are on XP, but I wrote them off to begin with as non-gamers, so I'm not sure I follow your point on that issue.
As for those real gamers who are on XP, they don't, of course, have to upgrade their OS just to get HTML5. All they have to do is download Chrome, Mozilla or Safari. And of course there are many gamers who aren't on XP or who won't be on XP in 3 years. So again, I'm not sure I understand your point.
I do, however, take your point about code exposure. Some folks will never go to HTML for fear their code will be stolen. I personally (and perhaps idiosyncratically) believe that this is red herring. There just aren't that many cases of people stealing other people's code and getting away with it. Stealing copyrighted HTML is particularly difficult, since it is so easy to check if the code for a program is stolen. It's like stealing a novel. Yes it can be done, and it is done, but it is not a common occurrence. If a book set in Paris during the French revolution begins "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," it's hard to conceal the true author because the whole work is exposed to view. The same is true with HTML. If there is a game with the same features as another game, and we check the code and see it is the same, then the gig is up. If I put up a website called Charlie's News, and it happened to have more or less the same HTML on it as the HTML for the New York Times, then I don't think I would get away with it for very long. I know that people will still see this as an issue, but I'm not sure I'm in their camp.
I wonder if there could be a way to block that from happening though....
But this is not that the worst part. If you want to do server side things you:
- need a server (own one, pay for one or find some not-so-good free for commercial use service)
- no off-line play (no mobile phones if you don't want to pay extra for the net)
- if you have a server you need a more powerful one (extra computation cosed my server side code)
- more complex programming of games
- even then some of your code gets published
Those are just the things I come up in 5 min. time, I'm sure there are more cons if you think about it.
In short you get a browser based MMO game without the "MM" part. And this my friend, we can do without HTML5.
EDIT: Now that I've read it for the second time I think it might came out too aggressive. I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention.