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It's not trivial, but it's absolutely possible to build an instant-loading web game with WebGL. https://venge.io https://venge.io is my go-to example. You can c

It's not trivial, but it's absolutely possible to build an instant-loading web game with WebGL. https://venge.io https://venge.io is my go-to example. You can click that link and starting from zero you can see 3D rendered content in about three seconds and be shooting people in multiplayer in less than 10 seconds (on a decently fast connection). Of course the graphics there are not competing with Unreal, but in principle it should be possible to do progressive loading of assets and reach a much higher quality over time without sacrificing that fast initial load.

nmfisher 4y ago
I suppose my follow-up question is: is there a sufficiently large market for that type of game? Not just blue-sky thinking, I'm more wondering if there is proven demand, as of today. Side-note: I couldn't load the game in Safari (which has amazingly poor WebGL support).
- JayStavis 4y ago
  My guess: The 3D versions of web 2.0 experiences I don't think traditional AAA makes sense in the browser right now, but I see all sorts of UGC experiences having large synergy with web standards. The business playbook is largely there too. One reason the market isn't sufficiently large yet is really because of the creation tools at our disposal imo. Web 2.0 explosion was arguably driven by great network effects of the proliferation of mobile cameras. Right now, none of my friends make 3D content. I personally believe that's going to change with depth sensors, 3D scanning, nerf, generative content, etc.. so the trendline is there for me to buy this theory. I'd look more towards social games, hangout type experiences, or async consumption... as opposed to realtime, networked, embodied, immersive. Side-note: Apple has demonstrated the willingness to change their tune on WebGL, I suspect they'll catch up pretty quick.
- modeless 4y ago
  I think there is a decent sized market in terms of number of players but monetization is not as good as other platforms. There's no IAP and less inventory of app install ads, which I believe are the two big moneymakers for native mobile games. One successful path seems to be early access on the web to build a following, with a release on Steam/app stores for monetization afterward using Electron or Node, with the web version remaining as a free demo (e.g. Vampire Survivors or CrossCode). The other path is ad monetization, and there are a lot of portals like crazygames.com or poki.com that host that type of game. I think the market there is largely schoolkids with Chromebooks. I'm not aware of any successful web games that are sold as an up front purchase like Steam games.

nmfisher 4y ago

I suppose my follow-up question is: is there a sufficiently large market for that type of game? Not just blue-sky thinking, I'm more wondering if there is proven demand, as of today. Side-note: I couldn't load the game in Safari (which has amazingly poor WebGL support).

JayStavis 4y ago
My guess: The 3D versions of web 2.0 experiences I don't think traditional AAA makes sense in the browser right now, but I see all sorts of UGC experiences having large synergy with web standards. The business playbook is largely there too. One reason the market isn't sufficiently large yet is really because of the creation tools at our disposal imo. Web 2.0 explosion was arguably driven by great network effects of the proliferation of mobile cameras. Right now, none of my friends make 3D content. I personally believe that's going to change with depth sensors, 3D scanning, nerf, generative content, etc.. so the trendline is there for me to buy this theory. I'd look more towards social games, hangout type experiences, or async consumption... as opposed to realtime, networked, embodied, immersive. Side-note: Apple has demonstrated the willingness to change their tune on WebGL, I suspect they'll catch up pretty quick.
modeless 4y ago
I think there is a decent sized market in terms of number of players but monetization is not as good as other platforms. There's no IAP and less inventory of app install ads, which I believe are the two big moneymakers for native mobile games. One successful path seems to be early access on the web to build a following, with a release on Steam/app stores for monetization afterward using Electron or Node, with the web version remaining as a free demo (e.g. Vampire Survivors or CrossCode). The other path is ad monetization, and there are a lot of portals like crazygames.com or poki.com that host that type of game. I think the market there is largely schoolkids with Chromebooks. I'm not aware of any successful web games that are sold as an up front purchase like Steam games.