Adobe Animate: End of Life and Support Timeline

Thanks for everything you’ve given us these last 25 years adobe. It was nice while it lasted. See you later. Have a nice retirement. Goodbye stranger.

This is extremely displeasing that studios, individuals and customers are no longer going to be able to use Animate in the future and Adobe need to seriously reconsider their position.

Individuals, teams, studios and educational institutions continue to use this for decades and are now given less than a months’ notice that purchasing will not be available while part of future plans, costings and tuition have been put into place.  There is clear and distinctive oversight here as entire pipelines have been designed with this software’s availability and it’s a disgrace to pull the rug out from under our feet.

As someone that has used this since Macromedia days, Animate has been part of an ecosystem which is prevalent within our creativity.  It is distinct and has a unique and approach in access to animation and vector production in tandem.  2D Games production and animation which utilized frame by frame production workflows are critical to the industry.  Animate’s Toolset does what the likes of After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, or puppet tools in other applications are not capable in. 

With no consultation this is extremely abrupt and many of us would strongly recommend that this decision is reversed as a reflection of the voiced disruption it will cause.   The future of Animate must be put into place as a gesture of goodwill at the disruption created.   Adobe should reconsider that support may no longer be provided by the application but could remain as legacy and can be installed, regardless of time.  Other companies like Autodesk do this.  This removes the ticking time bomb you have given us, the user base.

If a decision remains to cease the creative software, as stated, there needs to be a huge consideration here from Adobe to favour the user base which still exists, today.  The heavy-handed approach to halt all development with Animate is not something any consumer wants to be put through.  Therefore, in support of existing Adobe customers they should gift the application over or resell to another developer, as no doubt many would eagerly progress it and give it development time required.  This frees Adobe of the continued workforce or financial pressures of support.  This could be resold or easily supplied for open-source development.  If Adobe plan to lock it up and throw away the key the efforts should be made to release Animates source to another developer.  If not, it speaks volumes of the user base.  Animate would likely prevail in the hands of developers such as those producing Tahoma 2D, Krita or Blender.  Even competitors, Affinity would likely embrace it. 

For many Animate is our animation tool.  Do the right thing.  Keep it going or pass it on.

I’ve been working professionally in Flash/Animate since I graduated college in 2005. It is basically THE standard for professional animation software that is easy to use and access. Half the major animation studio productions I’ve been on have used it and integrated it into their pipelines. WHY would you shut this program down without anything to replace it!?? Does Adobe just not like money? Even if you didn’t provide any further updates you could just leave it as-is and the subscription dollars would still keep rolling in! By doing this you’re just sending all your potential customers running toward alternatives like Harmony or Moho! And we don’t want to, because we already know and work with Animate while the other programs are mostly too new or expensive, because what other choice are we going to have?

Is it because of AI? Because seriously, NO ONE WANTS ANYTHING WITH CHEAP AI SLOP IN IT! 

Even worse is the wording of the announcement. Are we even going to be able to open our old FLA files when the deadline runs out? Or does someone at Adobe just flip a switch, and suddenly all our files are just unopenable garbage? What do you mean AfterEffects can replicate “a portion of Animate’s functionality?” A pair of scissors can replicate a portion of the functionality of a fork, it doesn’t make it the same tool!

Everyone I know is up in arms about this! What a fucking slap in the face of every creative professional who makes up your consumer base. I urgently hope whoever is in charge there reconsiders, because this just makes no sense. Adobe will lose so much money and customers over this.

This is pretty ridiculous. I am an animation major, just about to graduate. Our entire college program is built around animate and what it provides. What the hell is my tuition going to then? My tuition pays for the entire adobe suite. Animate is the core program between every single other thing I use. This is not only a huge blow to a lot of independent artists, but students as well. People trying to get into the industry, those who already are...Even if after affects is a replacement (which, it absolutely is not) you are going to be massively disrupting SO many peoples workflows...This really just is not a sound decision. I’ve always thought adobe to be a company that puts artists first, but I am starting to realize that this is not the case. Very disappointing. Not sure what the actual thought process was behind this. 

Adobe,

I am a high school student. I am going to an Art College in september. I was so excited to learn how to be an animator. I used adobe animate with Friday Night Funkin’, a game that with animation built entirely around adobe animate and flash. I couldn’t wait to become a professional animator.

And now it is going away. 

Adobe after effects is completely different from Adobe animate. Others can agree with me. And I was SO excited to learn how professionals use Animate. So please, for the professionals, artists, beginners, and students, we love this program and it has been the best one that fits our desires, please do not take it away from us, because not only are you taking away our dreams, but a chunk of the artist community with it. Some of our jobs rely on Adobe Animate, and some of us use a reason to keep pushing in our studies. 

I am literally on my knees here. You have been dead silent with our pleas today, but please, from a kid like myself, just hear us out. Give us a chance to plead our cause before you pull the plug. Or else you may just lose us all.

Thank you for listening.

This is happening with a lot of big corporations, Roblox, Meta, and now Adobe? I’ve lost faith in you Adobe, I’m done.

I’m a professional animator with 30+ years in the industry here to express my concern about this irresponsible decision from Adobe management to discontinue Animate. Don’t you realize how embedded this software is in the industry and in production pipelines? This will hurt hundreds (if not thousands) of your loyal users, myself included. 

Also, can you please clarify what you mean by “Existing Animate users may continue to use the application.” ? Is that indefinitely? Will the app and all fla files still open if it’s installed locally? 

If there will be a disruption, the least you can do is provide a standalone version that current users can continue to use indefinitely.

The decision to discontinue Adobe Animate is extremely disappointing and harmful to its community.

Animate is not just another tool. It is unique in what it offers:

• A clear, visual timeline-based workflow

• A rare and powerful combination of animation + interactivity

• Real HTML5 Canvas / CreateJS export for games and interactive content

• An accessible tool for education, games, and interactive learning

• A bridge between artists and developers that no other software truly replaces

What makes this worse is how this decision was made:

• Thousands of users have years or decades of work in .FLA files

• There is no real migration path

• No official alternative

• No conversion tools

• No realistic transition plan

Telling users to “export to HTML5” ignores the fact that the real value is in the editable files, timelines, and workflows.

Ending a product with this legacy in such a short time frame feels less like a transition and more like abandonment.
A tool like Animate deserved a future, or at least a responsible exit strategy.

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the discontinuation of Adobe Animate. As an animator, Animate’s vector-based workflow, symbol system, and rigging capabilities are irreplaceable.

Directing users to After Effects or Express is not a viable solution for character animation and game development. These tools lack the specific frame-by-frame and vector rigging features that Animate provides. Removing Animate leaves a massive gap in the Creative Cloud ecosystem and forces professionals to migrate to competitors like Toon Boom or Moho. Please reconsider this decision and keep Animate supported.

IT IS NOT CLEAR if our already downloaded Animate app will continue to work after March ‘27 but just that there will be no more updates, OR will just become unusable for us??

Surely if we have downloaded the app, it works offline, so surely we can continue to use it?

You can continue to use Animate, but access to your Animate files will end?!

And useless advice about exporting to SWF, SVG and MP4! Do Adobe understand how we use Animate!?!!

“As an existing Animate user, you may continue to use Animate, but please note that technical support will no longer be available ofter 1March 2027.

Please note that access to your Animate files and project date will end on 1 March 2027. To ensure a smooth transition, we encourage you to export your Animate FLA and XFL files to other formats such as SWF, SVG and MP4 files before this date.”