Overview As Adobe continues to focus on developing new products, solutions and flexible licensing options, we have decided to discontinue Adobe Captivate perpetual licenses, worldwide. Adobe Captivate, post February 15, 2022, will be available through subscription licensing options only, which anyway is today’s preferred licensing option by the vast majority of our users. Subscribers get several advantages. The cost is lower for subscription and subscribers are provided both feature and security updates very regularly. The updates even include new media assets to use in your projects. Given that shift, subscription will become the new normal in February of 2022. At that point the old ‘perpetual’ model licenses will no longer be available. Instead, Captivate users may purchase Adobe Captivate using any of the subscription options. You can learn more about a Captivate Subscription here. https://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/buying-guide.html What does the discontinuation of Adobe Captivate perpetual licenses mean? After February 15, 2022, perpetual licenses of Adobe Captivate cannot be purchased in any geography through Adobe.com, or through Channel (Adobe authorized resellers) under: Transactional Licensing Program (TLP) Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP) Adobe Software Assurance (ASA) [New or renewal] Maintenance and Support (M&S) [New or renewal] Will Adobe Captivate stop working for customers with perpetual licenses? No. You can continue to access and use the current version of Adobe Captivate through your current license plan/serial key, but please note that post February 15, we will not support any security patches with the current version of Adobe Captivate. We have an ASA/M&S contract. Until when can we access Adobe Captivate? Customers who are currently enrolled for Adobe Software Assurance (ASA) or Maintenance and Support (M&S) plans for Adobe Captivate will continue to avail of the benefits for these programs till the expiry date of the current contract. I want to use a serial key for Captivate. Where can I access a version which will allow me to use serial key? Note that after February 15, 2022, we will not be supporting any security patches for the version which allows serial keys. However, if you still wish to use that version, you can download it from here – Windows | macOS How can I upgrade to new versions of Adobe Captivate? You can purchase subscription licenses from Adobe.com or through Channel. For any information, contact Captivate support.

S

Saurav_Ghosh

Community Manager

Question

Adobe Captivate Subscriptions Become the New Normal

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
November 18, 2021
13 replies
8738 views

Overview

As Adobe continues to focus on developing new products, solutions and flexible licensing options, we have decided to discontinue Adobe Captivate perpetual licenses, worldwide.

Adobe Captivate, post February 15, 2022, will be available through subscription licensing options only, which anyway is today’s preferred licensing option by the vast majority of our users.

Subscribers get several advantages. The cost is lower for subscription and subscribers are provided both feature and security updates very regularly. The updates even include new media assets to use in your projects. Given that shift, subscription will become the new normal in February of 2022. At that point the old ‘perpetual’ model licenses will no longer be available. Instead, Captivate users may purchase Adobe Captivate using any of the subscription options. You can learn more about a Captivate Subscription here. https://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/buying-guide.html

What does the discontinuation of Adobe Captivate perpetual licenses mean?

After February 15, 2022, perpetual licenses of Adobe Captivate cannot be purchased in any geography through Adobe.com, or through Channel (Adobe authorized resellers) under:

Transactional Licensing Program (TLP)
Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP)
Adobe Software Assurance (ASA) [New or renewal]
Maintenance and Support (M&S) [New or renewal]

Will Adobe Captivate stop working for customers with perpetual licenses?

No. You can continue to access and use the current version of Adobe Captivate through your current license plan/serial key, but please note that post February 15, we will not support any security patches with the current version of Adobe Captivate.

We have an ASA/M&S contract. Until when can we access Adobe Captivate?

Customers who are currently enrolled for Adobe Software Assurance (ASA) or Maintenance and Support (M&S) plans for Adobe Captivate will continue to avail of the benefits for these programs till the expiry date of the current contract.

I want to use a serial key for Captivate. Where can I access a version which will allow me to use serial key?

Note that after February 15, 2022, we will not be supporting any security patches for the version which allows serial keys. However, if you still wish to use that version, you can download it from here – Windows | macOS

How can I upgrade to new versions of Adobe Captivate?

You can purchase subscription licenses from Adobe.com or through Channel.

For any information, contact Captivate support .

This topic has been closed for replies.

LMS_90

Inspiring

So were there any actual enhancements in the 11.8 release (aside from now working with windows 11)?

I somehow missed the whole upgrade issue last winter and just ran in to it with a client file who'd already upgraded. Of course the version check still showed I was up to date with my 11.5.5 so I had to go figure all that out. But I'm now on 11.8 and see no differences. Are there any?

Thx.

Lori Smith

RodWard

Community Expert

None that I am aware of. The main advantage it offered was compatibility with Win 11 (for Windows users) and compatibility with current MacOS for Apple users.

But it must be remembered that moving to this version means you are agreeing to a subscription and could lose your standalone license (if you originally purchased Cp 2019 standalone).

DarrenFMc17167703

Known Participant

I am on a corporate Subscription account for Creative Cloud and also Adobe Captivate for many years.

My version has not been able to update for years. On 11.5.5

Surely if I am on an annual corporate subscription this should be automatic now?

When I go to my Account and then to Captivate. The download Captivate button no longer works.

What do I do?

RodWard

Community Expert

You can download Adobe Captivate 11.8 from this page:

https://helpx.adobe.com/captivate/kb/captivate-downloads.html

Before installing 11.8 you will need to uninstall your older 11.5 version first, making sure to select the option to remove Preference settings. If your corporate subscription is up to date, and you are logged in under that subscription at the time of install, it should work for you. Otherwise you will need to contact Adobe Support to resolve any issues.

Personally, if you are on 11.5.553 and you are not encountering any issues using the app, I would leave everything as is. 11.8 doesn't add any significant new functionality, just some bug fixes. It's up to you what you do, but my motto is: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

DarrenFMc17167703

Known Participant

Cheers, but I thought it was now on a subscription model? How do I switch my corproate annual Captivate subscription to the new model. Thats the confusing part.

DarrenFMc17167703

Known Participant

Very confusing. Captivte has not been updated in 3 years now and there does not seem to be any sign of a modern updating of the application to be fit for purpose. The current Version 11.5.5 still supports exporting to Flash player for example. Why would anyone move to a subscription model of this software when no development by Adobe has been made in the past 3 years? More modern look and feel course are now required and requested such as vertical scrolling html pages with parallax backgrounds available with GOMO for example. This is now the expected option. We have ditched over 500 Captivate licenses in the past 2 years so it will take a lot of convincing to look again with that level of investment.

RodWard

Community Expert

Yes Captivate 2019 still supports export to Flash Player, but that is simply because at the time it was released Flash SWF content was still being used by some clients. I would suggest that nobody in the world is currently using that option since about the end of 2020 when all support for Flash was dropped by browser vendors.

As far as your statement that: "no development by Adobe has been made in the past 3 years" I can only say that it seems you have not been following developments in the Captivate space. Over the past few years there have actually been several updates to Captivate 2019, mostly for bug fixes and compatibility with new versions of computer operating systems (notably MacOS).

However, it was announced last year that a new version of Captivate is currently being developed and selected members of the community have been invited to participate in the BETA. Yes development is taking longer than expected, partly because it is a total re-write of the application from the ground up, but the overall direction being taken for the development looks very promising to me.

Your organisation is of course welcome to select whichever e-learning authoring tool it wishes.

DarrenFMc17167703

Known Participant

I have been following developments. Bug fixes or simply compatibility with MacOS would not be considered new updates just fixing problems they already had. Pity they cannot fix the "bug" where i am stuck on 11.5.5 and told my version is up to date. I have a corporate subscription yet Captivate wont update for the past few years. I see Captivate going the way of Director...but we shall see. We rely on several authoring tools, and not just one. If all you have is a hammer then you will treat everything as a nail.

Paul Wilson CTDP

Community Expert

@Saurav_Ghosh I'm still on 11.5.5 but would love to get 11.8 but I'm a user who has been supplied a community contributor license of Captivate. I'm starting to get warnings of my license expiring soon. Would really appreciate taking care of this sooner rather than later.

Paul Wilson, CTDP

Stagprime2687219

Legend

@Paul Wilson CTDP - Did you ever get any feedback on this regarding licensing?

I've noticed my 1 yr license is popping up as expiring 3 months early.

Paul Wilson CTDP

Community Expert

Nope. I've just been assured that a solution is in the works.

Paul Wilson, CTDP

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kpcasey1

Known Participant

I want to use a serial key for Captivate. Where can I access a version which will allow me to use serial key?
Note that after February 15, 2022, we will not be supporting any security patches for the version which allows serial keys. However, if you still wish to use that version, you can download it from here – Windows

Error 404: Asset not found

This asset isn’t available. Try checking the URL or visit a different page

Got new system, went to reinstall serial version. Doesn't work. Found this help topic, link to old version doesn't work, get 404.

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Sujoy228408145ifg

Participating Frequently

What about the obvious bug in Captivate. The Video Demo features crashes captivate whenever we try to launch it. I was thinking of purchasing it after trying the demo version. However the Video Demo feature in the latest version is not working. This is one of the most powerful feature of Captivate. With this we can record our screen. What is the use of purchasing Captivate if the this feature does not work at all. Adobe is not even trying to get a permanent fix for this bug.

I wrote a post in community forum, and waiting for a solution. I am still waiting for @RodWard to resolve it for me. There are many other posts, such as this related to this bug.

RodWard

Community Expert

Please be advised that Rod Ward will NOT be helping you further to resolve any issues because he does NOT work for Adobe and is therefore NOT required to tolerate abuse like this:

The fact that a small number of users have experienced issues with Video Demo, usually due to software conflicts on their systems is the reason why there are several posts on this forum about the issue. That's what User Forums are designed for. But, the accusation that this feature of Captivate "does not work at all" is wildly inaccurate. Video Demo is working fine on Rod's system so he's busy using it to earn a living building e-learning courseware.

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Sujoy228408145ifg

Participating Frequently

"Rod Ward does NOT work for Adobe", however he has been a great advocate of Adobe Captivate. Why does he even care ALWAYS to address the issue in different posts, in the past as well as in the present. So, quite obviously, people would expect a solution from him. He should let people express their own experience, good or bad, with Adobe Captivate. Rod Ward must understand that any Windows 10 pro update, is NOT a software issue. Further even a handful of clients facing this issues is not a Adobe concern—says Row Ward, who does not work for Adobe. Whose concern are they, by any means? Shouldn't Adobe take any responsibility?

In the past Adobe was able to fix such issues by attaching a copy of Capture.dll as in this post. Thus a solution does exist. Further, not any other software of Adobe has this kind of issue with Windows update nor does Captivate fail entirely. Can Adobe not implement any system check prior to installation; of course it can. All I suggested that there should be a permanent fix for this type of problem. And when I said "...does not work at all...", with all common sense, the context was "...in my system..."

Anyways, since Rod has emphasized that he does not work for Adobe, I would not expect any reply from him and I apologize if I have hurt his sentiments.

M

Melodic_coder1587

Participating Frequently

How is this going to work for those of us who purchased the stand-alone version less than a year ago? It isn't acceptable to charge stand-alone prices and then a few months later require a subscription.

Paul Wilson CTDP

Community Expert

You can continue to use the 2019 perpetual license release indefinitely. Like all the Creative Suite Version 6 users can still use those applications. If they wish to upgrade to a newer release, they have to switch to Creative Cloud.

Paul Wilson, CTDP

Paul Wilson CTDP

Community Expert

I decided to download a clean copy of Adobe Captivate from my https://account.adobe.com/products page, where I also go to get my serial number. Unbeknownst to me the version I downloaded is the new 11.8.0 which my serial number is apparently not compatible with. I need to publish work for one of my clients today and I can't afford to waste time on this. @Saurav_Ghosh I thought this was something you were going to look into when I asked about Adobe Captivate eLearning Community contributors who get a complimentary copy of Adobe Captivate. Please let me know as soon as you can.

Paul Wilson, CTDP

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Lucien22983480yqz3

Participant

salut Paul Wilson, Paul Wilson,pour salome aubenas

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sigur_rosser

Inspiring

Hello Adobe...

I'm subscribed to Captivate but using version v 2017. Can I stick with this version past the deadline, for 2 more years, say?

Thanks,

Eric

RodWard

Community Expert

This is NOT Adobe Support. This is the Adobe Captivate User Forum. You need to try and contact Adobe directly to get an answer to your question (which will probably be NO).

A

Allan04888

Participant

As it is not the 15th of Feb 2022 yet, where I can I purchase an upgrade for my 2017 copy of Captivate?

Show more replies

Overview

What does the discontinuation of Adobe Captivate perpetual licenses mean?

Will Adobe Captivate stop working for customers with perpetual licenses?

We have an ASA/M&S contract. Until when can we access Adobe Captivate?

I want to use a serial key for Captivate. Where can I access a version which will allow me to use serial key?

How can I upgrade to new versions of Adobe Captivate?

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