Twitch.TV dumps Flash for HTML5

Twitch.TV is the most popular platform for professional and casual gamers to livestream, but it has always run slower than the competition. This is partly due to Twitch’s server support, but also due to the Flash video player it built being a clunky mess for users on slow connections.

This has been worked on over the years, but retaining Flash support is starting to become a burden for Twitch.TV, so much so the company has announced HTML5 and JavaScript support will be coming in the next few months.

Livestreaming will be the first destination for the new HTML5 player, which should bring improved performance and no need for a plug-in. Videos will be next on the list, although for now these will still require the Flash player.

Twitch.TV is actually quite late to the party, considering Google moved YouTube to HTML5 in 2014. Netflix is another streaming service planning on moving to HTML5, once Microsoft Silverlight expires in 2018.

Adobe Flash was already seen as inefficient, and the recent vulnerability leaks only add to the pressure to remove it. Facebook, Google and Apple have all called for its demise, accepting open-source alternatives.

Twitch.TV has continued its upward rise to the top of the food chain in the gaming world, but YouTube has plans to launch its own livestreaming service in the near future. YouTube is reportedly planning to invest in exclusive contracts with pro-gaming teams and players, alongside offering 60 frames per second and 2K playback.

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