HACKER Q&A
📣 mbalex99

Possible to make a game engine in the browser?


What would the limitations be if one were to create a game engine that could run in the browser?

Browsers now have file system access and WebGPU. What would be the major limitations of what it could do compared to a native engine that runs as a desktop app like Unity or Unreal.

  👤 dysoco Accepted Answer ✓
Godot has a web editor [1] in case you don't know yet.

[1]: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/editor/usin...

👤 clipsy
Unity[0] and Unreal[1] both have some degree of support for targeting modern web browsers as platforms.

[0]: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/webgl-building.html

[1]: https://github.com/UnrealEngineHTML5/Documentation

👤 MichaelEstes
PlayCanvas is a game engine that runs on browsers, but I’m not certain what it’s future will be, it was bought by SnapChat, but SnapChat has shut down running games in app.
👤 3crazyone
galacean[https://galacean.antgroup.com/] is Mobile first high performance web interactive engine, it support you make a game in web browser
👤 ezedv
Creating a browser-based game engine with file system access and WebGPU support is promising, but it does come with limitations. Browser-based engines may face performance bottlenecks compared to native desktop engines due to factors like limited hardware access and reliance on web technologies. They might also have restrictions on file system access for security reasons.

However, the advantage lies in accessibility and ease of distribution. For complex, resource-intensive games, native engines like Unity or Unreal may still offer superior performance and capabilities, but browser-based engines can reach a broader audience with simpler games or interactive web experiences.

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