Adobe announced the discontinuation of Flash Player 3 years ago. The final update for Flash Player was released on 8th December 2020 and will only be supported until the end of December. On January 12th, 2021, all installations of Flash Player will be disabled and users will not be able to run any Flash app or game either in the browser or on a standalone Flash Player.
Many online games, applications, and video streaming services were dependent on the Flash Player and was their sole supported software. With the discontinuation, many vendors and platforms are worried that they might run out of business.
We are here to tell you that there is nothing to worry about. Let us show you how you can still play games and stream videos on websites embedded with Adobe Flash Player with an alternative.
Table of Contents
What is Adobe Flash Player
Adobe Flash is a software that allows developers to create games, animations, and videos. Flash animation and interactive apps run in any browser that has a Flash Player plugin installed.
Flash Player is also used as a plug-in in your web browsers. It is the most famous and most used plug-in which supports Google Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer.
Adobe Flash Player Alternatives
BlueMaxima Flashpoint Secure Player
At the beginning of 2018, a project was started to save the legacy of the internet and the loved games and videos that were believed to be extinct when the Adobe Flash Player was gone. Hence, a non-profit software was developed known as BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint with the sole purpose to preserve and support all that was on the internet that was only supporting Flash Player at the time.
Starting as a minor project, Flashpoint is now an international sensation setting out an example for the internet’s value and its legacy. It not only offers a single Flashpoint Secure Player but 2 different versions:
- Flashpoint Ultimate: This is an offline repository that already has everything pre-downloaded and ready to run. The download size is approximately 532GB when the package is extracted. Since it is already downloaded, an internet connection is not mandatory to run it.
- Flashpoint Infinity: The Infinity version function is the same as the Ultimate. However, the content is downloaded as the user is playing the game. The initial size of the package is approximately 2GB, which expands as more content is downloaded. This version offers more space but requires a live internet connection when playing for the first time. Moreover, the games may lag as well due to it being downloaded in real-time.
As opposed to these, the Adobe Flash Player was lighter in terms of size as it never had to download anything off the internet. However, since the times are changing and there is no replica of the Flash Player at the moment, BlueMaxima Flashpoint is the only thing closest to the functions of the Flash Player.
Since Flashpoint is a work in progress, it can take a couple of years to create a copy of everything on the internet that was dependent on Flash Player. In the meantime, users can request the creators of Flashpoint to include certain games, animations, and videos into the project so that they are accessible even after the depreciation of the Flash Player.
BlueMaxima has also created an automatic software update for Flashpoint Ultimate that regularly updates it to a newer version. However, the organization warns that each update will wipe out any metadata, so the users will be required to create a local backup if they wish to save it.
BlueMaxima also provides news posts to prompt its users of any recent additions or changes to the repository. This way, an enthusiastic gamer won’t miss out on any of the fun!
You can check out the currently included games and animations on the links provided.
Download and install Flashpoint Secure Player
The main target of the project was the Windows platform. However, BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint now also supports other platforms such as Mac and Linux. Visit these pages for a guide to install them on the respective platforms.
Here are a few easy steps to download and install Flashpoint on a Windows PC:
- Download your preferred version of Flashpoint from the links provided below, or visit their downloads page:
- Extract the compressed package into another folder, and then execute the shortcut by the name “Start Flashpoint.”
- You can filter what you want to do by clicking on the links that are already provided and then continue from there on the start screen.
You can now play over 70,000 games or watch over 7,000 animations that were initially designed for the Adobe Flash Player, as in the image below:
Ruffle
Ruffle is an emulator and one of the better Flash Player alternatives, especially for the browsers. It is created in Rust programming language by volunteers and is an open-source project. The team welcomes more contributors as they are dedicated to preserving the Internet and its legacy. The plugin runs natively on a PC, just as the regular Flash Player does.
Download and install Ruffle Plugin
Since this plugin is not available on the Google Chrome store, it needs to be injected manually. Follow the methods below to install it on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari:
- Go to Ruffle’s download page and download the latest browser extension available.
(You may also download the Firefox version and then install it using the guide provided by Ruffle) - When downloaded, extract the compressed folder in a single location.
- Enter the following in the address bar of your web browser:
chrome://extensions/ - Now click on the slider next to Developer mode to switch it on in the top-right corner.
- Now click on Load unpacked in the top-left corner.
- From the browsing box, navigate to the extracted folder and then click Select Folder.
You can now see that Ruffle has been added to your browser extensions.
Supernova
Like Flash Player, Supernova is an extension that is readily available on the Google Chrome Store and can just as easily be installed on your web browser. It allows you to play Shockwave Flash (.swf) games designed to be played with Adobe Flash Player. Moreover, it also gives a standalone player that can be installed on your PC and run from any web browser.
Download and install Supernova Player
You may install the plugin for Google Chrome by visiting this link and then click Add to Chrome. However, if you wish to run it from other browsers, you may visit the Supernova Player standalone page and download and install it directly.
The installation will then automatically add the extensions to your browser.
Closing words
While the Adobe Flash Player project is closing down due to the security vulnerabilities surfacing in the project, alternatives have emerged that can run Flash content without exposing the system to those vulnerabilities.
I especially like the Ruffle project, which is more of an exact Flash Player alternative, but I would prefer to use multiple utilities to make up for the dying Flash Player. Are you a fan of Flash content? What will you do after Flash Player goes extinct?
