A flash in the pan

The news that Google’s latest Chrome update allows a provision to block Flash functionality for most sites should come as no surprise.

Google said that Chrome 55 would block Flash content, requiring confirmation each time a user wanted to play a Flash game. The mechanism can confuse many players, making them think the game is broken.

So far, it appears this functionality has not been fully implemented, and Flash content is only blocked if an HTML5 alternative is present. However, as the functionality is now available in Chrome’s settings menu, Google has the power to make the change at any time.

For some time now, Flash has been dying a slow death, and it is clear its time as the dominant tool for building games is over. Google has been talking of phasing out the technology for several months, while Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge also limit Flash in different ways.

Meanwhile, within the gaming industry most developers are now building new titles in HTML5.

Yggdrasil made the decision to cease Flash development before most, way back in December 2014. It was a decision that, at the time, may have appeared premature, but has now well and truly been vindicated.

Many providers, however, did not move as decisively. HTML5 very quickly went from a necessary evil for developing on mobile to the preferred choice for both mobile and desktop development. Those who did not keep pace with the latest advances would have missed this transition.

HTML5 provides several advantages to developers within the gaming industry. In the early days, there were concerns that HTML5 would struggle to deliver rich content, but it now turns out it is more powerful than Flash.

Another important area is security. Flash notoriously suffered from a number of security issues, and when dealing with sensitive player data it was never an ideal solution.

It was also a major drain on battery life compared with HTML5. When Flash was still the dominant medium, most online casino players still accessed their favourite games on desktops. This is no longer the case, and the technology was never the best suited to the mobile channel.

Flash also offered limited possibilities on the UX front, and with Chrome’s changes, this will be even more cumbersome when players are forced to manually enable Flash each time they want to play a game. In short, any operator that cares about UX and security needs to think very carefully about the pitfalls of Flash.

During the two years Yggdrasil has been developing solely in HTML5, we have enjoyed the greater flexibility it has afforded us versus Flash. You can see the results in our latest games, with titles such as Vikings Go Berzerk and Super Heroes among our most ambitious to date.

HTML5 allows developers to pair eye-catching visuals with breath-taking audio, while packing titles with features.

It really is a no-brainer, but we are seeing that some developers are struggling to make the switch. Many are weighed down by legacy platforms or development teams that have failed to progress beyond the limitations of Flash. Other simply lack the agility to pivot to newer technologies.

I predict providers who still supply their games in Flash will begin to see a noticeable negative impact on their bottom line in the coming months. If they haven’t already, these developers simply won’t be in a position to offer players the type of modern online casino experience they have come to expect.

While the temptation will be to offer content in both Flash and HTML5 for a period, that boat has already sailed. The future is HTML5, and anything else is just a flash in the pan.