Mobile games are the most downloaded apps on stores and they have the most important ROI. However, developing a game that is accessible on many platforms is a process that can quickly prove to be expensive and time-consuming. If you want to develop and distribute a video game on a maximum of platforms, desktop, consoles, mobile and web, Javascript is The technology that you need.

Long and expensive development on mobile game platforms

The variety of existing systems (iOS and Android on mobiles, Windows, MacOS and Linux on desktop) requires specific development skills and requires us to limit ourselves to a restricted market.

In the field of games, many programming languages are used: Objective-C on iOS, Java on Android, C# or often C++ on desktop, consoles and on mobile.
You must then write a different code for each targeted operating system, and requires specialized developers in every language.

On the web, Javascript is the only language that exists. The advances offered by the support of HTML5 And of WebGL in browsers have made it possible in recent years to create more and more advanced games. This is evidenced by the multiplication of hit games on Facebook.

50 million new players thanks to the web version of Clash of Kings

AAA game engines are trying to adapt to the web

Professional game engines (known as “AAA”) like Unity or Unreal Engine use C# and C++ languages, and have mobile exporters. At first glance, making a game developed with these engines available on the web is difficult. Emscripten, a project supported by Mozilla, is used by both engines to transform C# or C++ code into Javascript. The downside is the cumbersome solution and the difficulty for mobile platforms to run games with good performance.

Javascript as a universal development solution

By using Javascript as the basis for building a game, you can address most platforms at the same time. Using a renderer like Pixi.js or a game engine like Phaser, your game will be able to be launched on all browsers on the market and take advantage of WebGL for a powerful rendering. It will also be distributable on marketplaces such as Facebook.

Danger Mouse, a game made in HTML5 for the BBC to mark the revival of the television series of the same name

From web to desktop

For Windows, macOS and Linux, Electron is a solution that allows you to embed the Javascript and rendering engine of the Chrome browser and package it within an application that can be distributed on PC and Mac. We then get a game identical to the web version and deployable on the Mac App Store, on the Windows Store and on most recent distributions of linux !

The mobile

On mobile, cordova allows you to package the game into an app that can be distributed onApp Store And the Play Store. Since performance is lower on mobile, third-party solutions like Cocoon.js offer rendering optimizations to make the game faster.
Another alternative is offered by the game engine Cocos2d-js which includes a Javascript engine and natively optimized rendering.

Living room consoles

Home consoles are historically not known for their openness to technologies from the web, but the situation is changing.
For her Wii U, Nintendo has implemented the Nintendo Web Framework that allows the development of games based on HTML5 and Javascript.
Exporting the game to XBox One from Microsoft is also becoming possible thanks to the support of Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps.
Only PS4 is still closed to this technology.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars, a Wii U game made in Javascript with the Nintendo Web Framework

Lil Bub's HELLO EARTH, an example of a cross-platform Javascript game

The indie game Lil Bub's HELLO EARTH was successfully launched and funded on Kickstarter, by harvesting $148,000. The game engine is written entirely in Javascript, and is based either on Pixi.js, for Windows, MacOS and Linux, or on Cocos2d-js for the game on iOS and Android.

Lil Bub's HELLO EARTH, simultaneously available on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS

Initially intended for smartphones, the game was very quickly brought to desktop, with a few adjustments to the keys to control the game. During the Kickstarter, allowing fans of Lil BUB to finance the project, the video game was thus put online in the form of a demo version on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS simultaneously. A version Wii U is already in high demand by players! And the compatibility of the game with web browsers allows you to imagine lots of extensions or mini-games accessible directly on the web, without even having to download and install anything.

At BAM, we have chosen Javascript as the technology to create all our mobile applications and we are convinced that web technologies can revolutionize the world of mobile and cross-platform game.