To get Minecraft running in a modern browser like Chrome or Edge, developers had two choices:
To understand why Eaglercraft’s use of WebAssembly was so significant, one must first understand the "Java Problem." Historically, Minecraft was built on Java. While Java is "write once, run anywhere," it relies on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). In a browser environment, Java applets are dead technology—modern browsers stopped supporting them years ago due to security risks. eaglercraft wasm
Frustrated, Microsoft sent a cease-and-desist to her school. The principal, a former sysadmin, laughed. “She didn’t host copyrighted code. She hosted math.” To get Minecraft running in a modern browser
“The code is the client. The browser is the server. You are the world.” Frustrated, Microsoft sent a cease-and-desist to her school
The project demonstrated that the browser is no longer a second-class citizen for gamers. Through the power of Wasm, the browser became a legitimate, high-performance console—one that exists on every computer, hiding in plain sight.