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UPDATE: Following social media backlash over plans to shut down its 2D animation software Animate, Adobe has reversed course and decided to keep the service running.
Instead of a complete shutdown, Adobe Animate will now be in maintenance mode for existing and new customers. It will receive security and bug fixes, but not new features.
Originally, Adobe planned to stop accepting new Animate sign-ups from March 1 and give all existing users a year (three for Enterprise users) to download their work before the service was discontinued. Following backlash on social media, however, Adobe has reconsidered its decision.
“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. These are changes from what we shared in our original email,” Abode says in an updated support page.
A member of Adobe’s community team, Mike Chambers, also apologized on Reddit. "Yesterday, Adobe shared an email with Adobe Animate customers on the future of Animate. What we shared did not meet our standards and caused a lot of confusion and angst within the community,” Chambers writes. “On behalf of Adobe, I want to apologize.”
Adobe Animate allows users to create vector-based 2D animations for websites, apps, games, and cartoons. Some of the people upset with its wind-down included makers of animated shows like Chicken Nuggit and Salad Fingers. “We'd switch to another animation software if it wasn't reversed so show would still go on! But losing Adobe Animate would still be terrible,” read a comment from Chikin Nuggit’s X account on Tuesday.
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Adobe plans to shut down Adobe Animate, a 2D animation software used to create vector-based animations for websites, games, and cartoons.
As of March 1, the company will stop accepting new sign-ups. Existing users can continue using the software beyond that date, but technical support will end on March 1, 2027. To avoid losing work, users must download files before the technical support ends.
Enterprise customers have an extended timeframe for downloads; they’ll be able to export their files through March 1, 2029. Adobe has begun notifying users about the changes via email.
"Animate has been a product that has existed for over 25 years and has served its purpose well for creating, nurturing, and developing the animation ecosystem," Adobe says on a support page. "As technologies evolve, new platforms and paradigms emerge that better serve the needs of the users."
Adobe recommends that customers with a Creative Cloud Pro plan use Adobe After Effects for complex keyframe animation or Adobe Express for simpler animation effects on photos, videos, text, and shapes.
Animate users, including creators behind animation series Chikn Nuggit, have expressed their displeasure on social media. “Adobe has been legendary at destroying great products,” writes one user. “This is legit gonna ruin my life,” writes another.
As TechCrunch notes, the decision to discontinue Animate comes as the company continues to integrate more AI into its platforms.