Mozilla today announced that they’ve been working with Epic to integrate the game developer’s Unreal Engine 3 into their web browser via a plugin. Mozilla say they are “opening up the path for 3D Web-based games on mobile”.
At the core of this new plugin is a highly optimised version of JavaScript. Mozilla have had the code on a treadmill daily for months making it as trim as possible. This is the result:
It looks pretty impressive from where I’m sitting. Though, Mozilla do say that their version of JavaScript “continues to close the gap with native” not that it has managed it just yet. So it’s still faster to run this technology off your computer, not through your browser.
Mozilla also say that they’re “working with premium game publishers such as Disney, EA and ZeptoLab who are using the same technology to bring performance optimizations to their top-rated games.” That’s basically confirmation that we’ll be seeing a Disney-themed Unreal Torunament mod, right?
Epic’s engine seems to be popping up everywhere at the moment, it was just announced to be supporting the Oculus Rift, too.