SWF elements also proved to be a crucial tool for many multimedia hosting sites so that they could actually play audio/video inside a browser, given the lack of viable alternatives in the pre-HTML5 days. Used by an overwhelming majority of websites between the early 2000s and the mid 2010s, Flash was very much the go-to platform for online cartoons and games, being especially popular for various entertainment sites and children's sites due to its rich content, and has spawned its own subculture of animators and game developers as exemplified by the likes of Newgrounds. Their operations, networks, and customer care organizations were merged shortly after.

In turn, Macromedia was acquired by Adobe on December 3, 2005. The company was acquired by Macromedia in December 1996, rebranding FutureSplash Animator to Flash, an amalgamation of 'Future' and 'Splash'. Originally a drawing program for PenPoint OS, later ported to Windows and Macintosh when pen computing failed to take off, frame-by-frame animation features were added to it in a new program called FutureSplash Animator. Flash (previously FutureSplash Animator, before that SmartSketch) is a software platform created by FutureWave Software and is currently owned by Adobe (formerly Macromedia).

Online flash player emulator