ADOBE CAVES TO USERS - ANIMATE IS STAYING

[DerVVulfman]

User blowback convinces Adobe
to keep supporting
30-year-old 2D animation app

Despite the about-face, some customers think “the damage is done.”

Well, its yet another nail in Adobe's coffin after the last fiasco over their Photoshop terms, right?

Adobe has canceled plans to discontinue its 2D animation software Animate.

On Monday, Adobe announced that it would stop allowing people to sell subscriptions to Animate on March 1, saying the software had “served its purpose.” People who already had a software license would be able to keep using Animate with technical support until March 1, 2027; businesses had until March 1, 2029. Per an email sent to customers, Adobe also said users would lose access to Animate files and project data on March 1, 2027. Animate costs $23 per month.

After receiving backlash from animators and other users, Adobe reversed its decision on Tuesday night. In an announcement posted online, the San Jose, California-headquartered company said:

We are not discontinuing or removing access to Adobe Animate. Animate will continue to be available for both current and new customers, and we will ensure you continue to have access to your content. There is no longer a deadline or date by which Animate will no longer be available.

Adobe said the software will be available for individuals and businesses and will still receive technical support and security and bug fixes, but not new features.

The company said its Monday announcement “did not meet our standards and caused a lot of confusion and angst.”

“We are committed to ensuring Animate users have access to their content regardless if the state of development changes,” Adobe said.

Mike Chambers, a community director at Adobe, affirmed via Reddit that Adobe has no plans to shut down Animate. If the company decides to discontinue the software, it “will work closely with the community to ensure they have adequate time to plan in order to minimize disruption and will take steps so that the community continues to have long-term access to their content,” he said.

30 years of animation

Animate debuted in 1996 as FutureWave Software’s FutureSplash Animator. After a 1997 acquisition by Macromedia, FutureSplash Animator became Macromedia Flash. In 2005, Adobe bought Macromedia and renamed Macromedia Flash to Adobe Flash Professional. In 2015, the software became Adobe Animate CC. In its nearly 30 years of use, Animate has been used in numerous popular animated films and shows, including Star Trek: Lower Decks. Still, Adobe said on Monday that “new platforms and paradigms have emerged that better serve the needs of the user.”

Based on the response to Monday’s announcement, not everyone agrees that Animate is obsolete. Adobe’s announcement has also drawn increased scrutiny because of the company’s growing focus on AI-based tools, which have led to higher subscription fees.

“Shutting down Animate and cutting off users from decades worth of work, while simultaneously focusing on anti-artist AI technology, is incredibly disrespectful to your users. Make the software open-source if you’re not going to do the work yourself,” a user on Adobe’s forum going by “FFFlay” wrote in response to Monday’s announcement.

Although Adobe has shown an ability to respond to customer frustration and will allow people to use Animate for the foreseeable future, people who depend on the software, including for animation and education, are concerned about relying on a program that Adobe almost discontinued.

In a post today, an Adobe community member going by the username rayek.elfin wrote, “The damage is done in my opinion. The news of Adobe discontinuing Animate went viral and probably created so much anxiety and uncertainty that studios and indie animators are already looking to replace Animate in their pipelines.”

When asked how Adobe will try to rebuild trust among users, Chambers said, “Trust doesn’t come beforehand, it comes after (and has to be earned). We say what we will do, and if we consistently do it, we gain trust. We are at the ‘we say what we will do’ part for a lot of people.”