Chrome 94 Beta Tests Next-Gen Tech Allowing Gaming in the Browser

By Susie Green -

Google mentions in its announcement of Chrome 94 Beta that it is implementing some new web standards to improve browser-based gaming experiences. WebCodecs, which will be released soon, may simplify and accelerate cloud gaming, while the experimental WebGPU may make it easier for developers of browser-based games to leverage your computer's power.

WebCodecs in Chrome 94?

WebCodecs is an API that enables developers to gain improved access to the video encoding/decoding codecs that come pre-installed with your browser and determine what to do with video streams. While there are already methods for getting video to play in Chrome, they are not necessarily optimized for cloud gaming, which requires the lowest possible latency. WebCodecs is designed to minimize overhead, allowing the incoming video stream to be displayed on your screen as quickly as possible, possibly with the assistance of hardware decoding. This should also improve its performance on slower machines (which are the kinds of computers where cloud gaming is most desirable anyhow).

WebGPU, the newer, more experimental version, grants web developers increased access to your computer's graphics horsepower by allowing them to connect to your computer's native graphics API (similar to Apple's Metal, Microsoft's DirectX 12, or Vulkan). In simpler terms, it enables web developers to communicate directly with your graphics card, bypassing any unnecessary layers. It is intended to be a successor to WebGL, allowing developers to leverage the (now largely defunct) OpenGL framework. In the future, the technology should simplify the process of developing graphically intensive browser games that take full advantage of current-generation GPUs.

using the Chrome browser

Both technologies have a place in the world outside of gaming as well. Google mentioned Zoom's interest in using WebCodecs for videoconferencing in a July 2020 talk, and WebGPU could be used to render 3D models in the browser or to accelerate machine learning models. It makes sense that they would appear in Chrome, as Google is involved in all these areas, from cloud gaming via Google Stadia to its own video conferencing apps. Both technologies are open standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, and other browser makers have begun testing them as well.

Devs Still Have to Integrate WebCodecs in Their Apps

Naturally, we won't see experiences powered by WebCodecs or WebGPU for a while. While WebCodecs is nearing completion (it is expected to be enabled by default in the upcoming Chrome 94), developers will still need to ensure that their applications work with it. WebGPU is currently in an experimental trial phase that Google anticipates will conclude in early 2022. Whether it becomes a feature at that point is dependent on the outcome of the trial, the quality of the specification, and the level of interest in using it.

While these technologies may not make previously unthinkable things possible, Chrome 94 surely seems exciting. When things become simpler or more adaptable, it lowers the entry barrier for developers. For gamers who want to play on the web, whether via streaming or native games, the time developers save by not having to figure out how to get frames onto your screen is time they can spend improving other aspects of the experience.

Will users like Chrome 94? Only time will tell.