In this episode of "Building the Open Metaverse," hosts Marc Petit and Patrick Cozzi welcome Will Eastcott, the co-founder and CEO of PlayCanvas, a pioneering open-source game engine. Eastcott's journey in the gaming industry began in the 1980s when he was captivated by the 3D space trading game "Elite," which fueled his passion for computers and video games. He pursued computing at Imperial College London and gained early industry experience at a VR company, working with advanced silicon graphics workstations. His career took off at Criterion Software, where he contributed to developing RenderWare and worked on notable games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty.

Eastcott's transition to web-based game development was sparked by the release of the WebGL specification in 2010, which he saw as a significant opportunity for interactive graphics. He founded PlayCanvas in 2011, focusing on creating a web-native game engine that leveraged WebGL. Despite initial challenges, such as limited WebGL support on iOS, PlayCanvas flourished, becoming open-source in 2014. This move fostered a global community of developers and solidified PlayCanvas's role in democratizing game development.

The conversation delves into the strategic acquisition of PlayCanvas by Snap Inc. in 2017, which allowed Eastcott and his team to work on Snap Games, a platform serving millions of users. Eastcott shares insights into the unique aspects of PlayCanvas, including its lightweight runtime, collaborative browser-based platform, and commitment to open standards like glTF and WebXR. He emphasizes the importance of WebGPU in achieving significant performance improvements and explores the potential of AI and machine learning in revolutionizing content creation.

Eastcott highlights the development of Super Splat, a tool for optimizing 3D Gaussian splat scenes, demonstrating how AI can streamline the creation of photorealistic content without extensive coding. He also discusses the future of web gaming, pointing out the need for improved payment systems, discovery mechanisms, and better support from browser vendors to enhance the web gaming experience.

The episode concludes with Eastcott offering advice to aspiring game developers, encouraging them to leverage the vast audience and creative freedom provided by the web. He also gives a shout-out to Ken Russell and the National Center for Computing History in Cambridge, UK, acknowledging their contributions to the industry. Eastcott's journey and insights provide a compelling narrative on the evolution of web-based game development and the transformative potential of emerging technologies.

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Building the Open Metaverse is a podcast hosted by Patrick Cozzi (Cesium) and Marc Petit that invites a broad range of technical experts to share their insights on how the community is building the metaverse together. 

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