Hi guys, I would like to join the discussion. I have mixed feelings about the Adobe Flash platform, as it's a great platform with an uncertain future. I am an indie developer based in Berlin. I make a living of my currently 3 games with ~25.000 DAU. Using Air/Flash I now support the following platforms: - Standalone Website - Facebook - Android - iOS - Amazon - Blackberry - Windows 8 Store (desktop certified apps, it works) - PC Boxed Game (those offline things you can buy in a store) I do not see a way I could support all these platforms if it wasn't for the Adobe platform. Also, from a developer perspective, I love it. Looking at other tools available, I do not see a vital alternative. There are lots of game developers (large companies and Indies) in Berlin. The indies mostly use Unity, and I would consider it my first option if it wasnt for Air. But despite all the hype, none of the Indies I know are making a profit. When I talk to investors or Business angels, and we talk about technology, I often here phrases like "Oh you are using Air, yeah I wondered how you could have done that with PhoneGap/HTML5". Despite all the bashing, the experienced people know how good Air is. The bashing mostly comes from people working on web development that have no experience with games and take their knowledge from fellow HTML5 believers. That brings me to the major companies: 3 gaming companies in Berlin that I know quite well are using Adobe Air/Flash for their games. GameDuell, the largest, also use Native and HTML5, depending on the usecase, where they reserve their Air resources for the rich content applications. NeuroNation, a startup by some friends with a 7 digit funding also use Air for their app and got recently featured on iTunes. Crowdpark, a social casino company that I used to work for, are using Flash/Air for their Casino platform. That said, Air is all but dead. The question is, is it dying? I do not mind having to develop / buy the ANEs, even if it's getting messy sometimes (getting Facebook login to work on Desktop required some serious voodoo). But I also feel that Adobe is slowly letting us down. I do not know what they plan, but if I was Adobe and I was planning to stop Air support while pocketing as much money as I could from it, I would do exactly what they are doing right now. After the official drop of Air for SmartTV I found recently a page on the official website by Adobe still stating "they are firmly committed to continue developing Air for SmartTV". I know what Adobe's committment is worth, now. In my oppinion the dilemma is, that Air is a great platform, but there is not a lot of money to be made from it for Adobe. Their weird approach with premium features failed, whatever that was. The thing is, I would be willing to give them more money. I would gladly pay 1000€ for a Windows 8 Metro Air license, and many others, too. Why dont they try this, I can only wonder. I really hope that Adobe continues to provide support for Air for at least the current existing platforms for the next 10 years. It is the best platform out there. The only thing missing is Adobe waving the Flag and lighting all beacons, showing they are alive and committed, not only saying that from time to time. Sorry for the long post, potatoe
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