WebGL 2.0 support now available in Chrome

On the Chromium blog Google software engineer Zhenyao Mo announced that the desktop version of  Chrome 56 now fully supports WebGL 2.0, offering web developers a new route to delivering 3D interactive graphical experiences to users without needing to download an app.

Chrome currently has nearly 60% market share, and WebGL 2.0 is also supported by Firefox and Opera, meaning the majority of desktop users now have access to the new web technology. Currently Edge only supports WebGL 1.0.

WebGL 2.0 is a major upgrade to the API which unlocks a variety of new graphics features and advanced rendering techniques. WebGL 2.0 makes it even easier to build 3D web applications, with faster real-time rendering, new types of textures and shaders, and reduced video memory consumption. Techniques including deferred shading, tone mapping, volumetric effects, and particle effects can now be efficiently implemented. The new APIs also bring WebGL up to feature parity with OpenGL ES 3.0, a graphics platform commonly used in mobile games.

WebGL 2.0 is currently available for Chrome users with modern graphics hardware on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and is coming soon to Android.

If you are using the latest version of Chrome you can see a demo of the technology right in your browser here and here.