Unity Technologies Inc. has announced that as of March 2016 it will no longer support the Unity Web Player plugin, which currently allows developers to release games for web browsers using the Unity game engine. The company explained that several web browsers, including Google Chrome, are already removing support for plugins like the Web Player, making the platform no longer useful.

“Clearly, the web ecosystem is moving away from browser plugins and we are quickly approaching the point where no current browsers will still be able to run plugin content,” the company said in a blog post. “Given this outlook, Unity is diverting resources into alternative web technologies and will begin the end-of-life process of the Unity Web Player plugin.”

Unity said that developers will be able to use WebGL export to release games for web browsers, but it also noted that this is not a perfect solution, and WebGL offers some limitations that were not present in the Web Player.

“It is important to understand that WebGL is a different platform from the Web Player and does not match the feature set or performance of the Web Player,” Unity said. “We are working closely with browser vendors to make sure this gap becomes as narrow as possible, but there are some limitations which are defined by the platform – such as restrictions on the networking protocols you can use, which are mandated by security concerns.”

The company said that it will still allow users to download the Unity 5.3 Web Player in order to play existing content, but in order for it to work, they will either need to use a browser that still supports the plugin or download an older version of a browser that previously supported it.

“Unity deeply understands the importance and historical relevance of Web Player powered games and keeping this back catalogue of games playable is something we care about,” Unity said. “We have formed a working group to investigate alternative technical solutions and will update the community as we progress.”

Image courtesy of Unity Technologies Inc