Flash is slowly exiting the online gaming markets as it makes way for the very modern and more flexible HTML5 code.
In the e-sports industry web browser gaming is becoming increasingly popular as game designers creating mobile MOBA games are starting to look at cloud tech to manage their gaming environments and player base. By switching to HTML5 from either Flash of mobile apps, e-sports brands are able to grow quicker by capturing a wider audience via their game’s ability to offer cross platform support and improved 3D graphics as well as animations.
The very same HTML5 tech is also being used by sportsbooks that offer odds on pro e-sports games making the switch to HTML5 a lucrative business decision for e-sports firms. To understand exactly why HTML5 is the new code of choice, and why Flash and mobile apps are slowly disappearing, you have to dig deep into the pre and post Flash era and the emergence of HTML5 which we cover these periods below.
Pre-Flash Game Development
Now pre-Flash developers were limited to creating a game for an Android app, an iOS app, a Blackberry app, or a Window Mobile app, while the game would not be available on desktops or laptops. This posed several issues with the most obvious being that game developers could only target a limited audience.
An iOS game developer would only gain traffic from iOS players while a Windows Mobile game developer would only see traffic from Windows smartphone and tablet owners. If game designers wanted their game to target a wider audience, they would need to design it 2, 3, or 4 times so Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry players could all play.
For companies such online betting firms, they would need to create multiple apps so customers could have the ability to search markets to place bets and manage their betting account history and balance.
Flash Gaming in Sports Betting Industry
At the time, many of the online betting sites on oddsmanager.co.uk bookmakers page were running multiple apps to get around the market reach limitations having a single app would present. However, the emergence of Flash tech changed the sports betting and e-sports betting industries by offering cross-platform support.
With Flash, sports betting fans do not need an app. They can load football, eSports, snooker, horse racing, and US sports markets and place bets via their web Flash enabled web browser on their mobile devices. Android, Windows, and any other operating system can now be used to bet on different sports betting markets, as well as take advantage of bonus bets, add on virtual sports betting games and more.
Plus, those that like to watch sports live can use the sports betting site for live streams. These live streamed sports events also have in-play sports betting markets so you can bet on the action live. In eSports betting markets, the odds continuously change as the event or sports match nears an end often giving sports betting fans the chance to bet on long odds with the unlikeliest of outcomes which can happen any time in an eSports match as the tides suddenly turn unexpectedly!
The Emergence of Cross Platform Flash Tech in Online Gaming Verticals
Flash came out as a clever alternative solution to using mobile apps. For gaming developers, this effectively meant cross platform support from a single point of development, and here is why.
Instead of creating games using different coding languages, developers could now use a single coding language. When creating games for multiple apps, a game development company would need expertise to code Android, then more expertise for iOS devices, and so on.
With the Flash code, game developers can create mobile games that work on internet web browsers using one code. Now being able to create games for web browsers was revolutionary at the time and for good reason. Game developers could now create a game such as a video slot or a platform such as a mobile betting site that would work on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or even Internet Explorer.
Players can then load the game on their browser and play or bet as long their browser supports Flash technology. And those browsers are available on Windows Mobile, Windows Desktop, iOS, Blackberry, and Android devices. This is a single code on a technology that plugs into web browsers, and those web browsers are already available on mobile devices.
Key advantages of flash:
- Maintaining multiple apps is too costly
- Flash negates the need for multiple apps
- Flash works on multiple web browsers
- Web browsers are available on all mobile operating systems
- Only 1 gaming code required
Why HTML5 Tech Will Become the E-Sports Game Design Code of Choice
You only have to read why one of the largest iGaming companies in the world decided to lead the way and switch all of its video slot and table games to HTML5. NetEnt upgraded as Flash era came to an end, and many e-sports as well as sportsbooks that give punters betting odds on e-sports pro games There is also a dedicated HTML5 games niche out there.
One of the key issues with Flash is that it does not integrate well with web browsers. Games would often stop working because Flash needed updating and, in many cases, completely reinstalling. These were some downsides of mobile apps that carried over to Flash.
Conversely, HTML5 integrates perfectly with mobile browsers. It is used by websites for animations, special effects, and more. The basis for the code is JavaScript which is perhaps the most flexible programming language available today, and every modern browser today works in sync with HTML5 which JavaScript uses as a transport mechanism to piggyback onto browsers.
This means all the benefits of flash mentioned above come with HTML5 for e-sports and sportsbooks, while there are no updates, reinstalls, or plug-ins required!