PlayCanvas is an open-source[1]3D game engine/interactive 3D application engine alongside a proprietary cloud-hosted creation platform that allows for simultaneous editing from multiple computers via a browser-based interface.[2] It runs in modern browsers that support WebGL, including Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. The engine is capable of rigid-body physics simulation, handling three-dimensional audio and 3D animations.
PlayCanvas has gained the support of ARM, Activision and Mozilla.[3]
The PlayCanvas engine was open-sourced on June 4, 2014.[4][5]
In April 2019, BusinessInsider.com reported that the company was acquired by Snap Inc. in 2017.[6]
Features
The PlayCanvas platform has collaborative real-time Editor that allows editing a project by multiple developers simultaneously.[7] The engine supports the WebGL 1.0 and 2.0 standard to produce GPU accelerated 3D graphics and allows for scripting via the JavaScript programming language.[8]
Projects can be distributed via a URL web link or packaged in native wrappers, p.g. for Android, using CocoonJS[9][10][11] or for Steam using Electron, and many other options and platforms.
Notable PlayCanvas applications
Various companies[12] use PlayCanvas in projects of different disciplines of interactive 3D content in the web.