Newsletter – Issue 031

🔥 Headlines

Babylon.js 9.0 (video) brings Clustered Lighting, Volumetric Lighting via compute shaders, a visual Node Particle Editor, and Frame Graph v1 with 40%+ GPU memory savings. Also fresh out of the oven: Babylon Lite (repo): a WebGPU-only rewrite shipping 19x less gzipped JS and 3.6x faster rendering with a no-classes API.

⚡️ Spark.js by Ludicon is a real-time GPU texture encoding library that turns image formats such as PNG, WEBP, or AVIF, into compressed GPU textures. This gives small downloads and low VRAM usage, at the cost of encoding on the fly. Spark was recently made free for projects of less than $100k of revenue. I also released GPUtex, my vibe-coded from-scratch MIT alternative, which offers similar performance. Prefer Spark for any serious use.

Three.js Conf is the first-ever Three.js conference, happening in Paris on September 10 & 11, 2026. A lot of people from the community will be there, including Poimandres, TresJS folks, and me. Use the WEBGAMEDEV coupon for 10% off tickets. Get in touch on Discord if you attend, it’s going to be an epic gathering!

⭐️ Sponsors

CrazyGames is revolutionizing web gaming, connecting over 3,000 developers with 40+ million players monthly. Our platform supports both ads and in-app purchases, paying out millions in revenue share to developers each year while fostering one of the most vibrant player communities worldwide. Publish your game on CrazyGames!

Benchmarks are now live in the Developer Portal! Visualise your performance in key areas against the Top 20%. Check the new charts on the developer dashboard to understand your metrics and drive improvement.

VIVERSE gives developers powerful tools to bring interactive 3D and XR experiences to life directly in the browser, with free hosting, multi-engine support, and monetization tools. With our Creator Program, we’re investing in the next generation of creators who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the browser. Join the VIVERSE Discord.

The VIVERSE Partner Program is live! In addition to our Creator Grants, any developer can now earn on VIVERSE based on engagement. No ads, no rev shares, no exclusive contracts, just generous compensation well above competitor rates!

Poki makes the best web games shine! With 90M+ players and 1B+ monthly gameplays, we focus on games that load instantly, feel great to play, and work seamlessly on any device. We believe the beauty of the web is simplicity, so we offer a frictionless experience players love coming back to, built to grow games for the long run and earn more across their full lifetime.

• Share your game to get free, unlimited playtests with real players.
• Start play testing on Poki with the #showcase post on Discord.
• Learn more about Poki in this video.

🏎 Engines

• Three.js r185 – Out just now! (changelog, migration guide)
• TresJS – FPS limit in core 5.8.0, @tresjs/rapier alpha, cientos 5.8.0 and 5.7.2
• PlayCanvas Engine v2.20 – Gaussian Splatting improvements, procedural skies, physics joints & ragdolls
• Phaser 4.0.0, 4.1.0, and 4.2.0 – New render node architecture, unified Filter system. 4.1 adds Layer-as-GameObject and ESM fixes and 4.2 adds Mesh2D, Stencil rendering, AlphaStrategy, and Cone Lights
• PixiJS v8.18 and v8.19 – HTML-in-Canvas textures, Graphics to SVG export, sprite mask channels
• KAPLAY v4000 Alpha 27 – fill() component, 9-slice tileMode, and a new texture packer for better batching
• 🤺 Rapier 0.33.0 – PhysicsWorld convenience wrapper, Python bindings, and no_std support
• Wonderland Engine 1.6.0 – Meshlets and screen-space ambient occlusion

🛠 Tools

• Draco.js (demo) – Pure-JS Draco loader for Three.js, 20 KB gzipped vs 100 KB WASM by mrdoob
• Makio-Meshline 1.4 – Now with R3F and TresJS components, GPU picker, CPU raycasting by makio64
• Anime.js 4.5 Three.js Adapter – 3D object animations and timelines by Julian Garnier
• TEX7 (repo) – Turn a single texture into a luminance-based 3-band texture with procedural normals by me
• Ecctrl 2.0 (repo) – Physics-driven character controller toolkit for R3F + Rapier by Andrew Chen
• meshoptimizer 1.1 – Meshlet topology compression and opacity micromaps by Arseny Kapoulkine
• Basis Universal Transcoder (demo) – WASM KTX2 transcoder with TS bindings, eval-free by hwei
• Radiant (repo) – Collection of WebGL shaders by pbakaus
• ⚡️ compilecat (repo) – JS/TS compiler plugin for hot-path optimizations by Isaac Mason
• ⚡️ perftale – Analyzes Chrome performance traces for web games by Saman Bemel-Benrud
• jsblender – Read-only typesafe .blend file parser by me
• 🎾 webphysics (demo) – WebGPU physics engine based on the AVBD solver by Jure Triglav
• 🌎 Playgama Game Trends – Web game rankings across CrazyGames, Poki, and more by Playgama

🎬 Videos

• 🎓 Evolving Global Illumination in Overwatch 2 (slides) by Will Pearce for REAC
• 🎓 Optimizing Geometry for the GPU with Arseny Kapoulkine on Wookash Podcast
• 🎓 No Graphics API with Sebastian Aaltonen on Wookash Podcast
• Write TypeGPU, Use Anywhere by Iwo Plaza
• ⚡️ AI Coding Works by SimonDev
• Charge Shot VFX in Three.js by Cortiz
• Making 60,000 Particles Feel Alive (TSL + WebGPU) by Cortiz
• Zephyria Devlog #4 New enemies and first boss by Cortiz - S-tier developer and content, subscribe 🔥
• 3D Browser Games in Svelte with Threlte by Practical Coder
• Alabaster Dawn Devlog by Radical Fish Games
• Low Poly Fantasy Props in Blender 5 by Imphenzia

✍️ Articles

• 3D on the Web 2026 by Khronos Group
• False Earth: From WebGL to WebGPU (demo, repo) by Ming Jyun Hung
• Intro to TSL by Alvaro Sabu
• Creating a Sci-Fi Energy Shield (demo, repo) by Cortiz
• On Rendering the Sky, Sunsets, and Planets by Maxime Heckel
• 🎓 Modern Culling Techniques by Nikita Krupitskas
• 🎓 Creating Fake 3D Characters in a 2D Engine by Rémi Vansteelandt
• 🤖 Letting Bots Learn to Move Like Players by Rémi Vansteelandt
• Three.wasm by Wonderland Engine
• The State of Web Gaming 2026 by Poki
• 🌎 Web Games Industry Market Map 2026 by Playgama

🎮 Games

• Ramp Car VS Police: CHASE by Kingplay – Cause as much chaos as possible without getting arrested.
• Merge & Fight by Pipoza Games – Merge weapons and battle through waves of enemies.
• Epic Sword Battle by Eccentric Games – Chaotic 3D arena sword-fighting game with ragdoll physics.
• Swarm Survivor by Espada Studio – Defend your spaceship against hordes of aliens.
• Ragdoll Factory Idle – Pachinko board meets chaotic ragdoll physics in this idle game.

• Alphaputt by Sennep – Putt your way through the alphabet in this beautiful golf game.
• Back to Bed by Bedtime Digital Games – Guide Bob the sleepwalker to safety in a surreal world.
• 2025 Mosaic Retrospective by Divide the Plunder – A picross/minesweeper hybrid on huge boards.
• Kickshot by Fer Factor – Kick down doors and clear rooms in a fast, on-rails shooter.
• Pezzi by 5of12 – A musical puzzle game where you assemble blocks to build melodies.

• Blast Buddies by Blasters – Colorful chaotic FPS action. Blast through arenas with your buddies!
• Decor Life by SayGames – Clean, organize, and decorate your dream home.
• Real City Bikes by Fuego Games – Cruise through the city and master thrilling bike rides.
• Wheel Master by GameTornado – Balance, ride, and conquer tricky roads on two wheels.
• Lips DIY Master by WeLoPlay – Create bold and beautiful lip makeup designs.

• Vibefall by Kieran Smith – Parkour shooter with great movement.
• Darkstar Fury by Patrick Heintzmann – Shoot ‘em up with a great UI.
• Mechacraft.io by Nick van Urk – Vehicle building sandbox game.
• Tiny RTS by zebleck – Multiplayer real-time strategy game inspired by classics like Warcraft 3.
• 🦾 Vibe Jam happened, and there are tons of great games to try!

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