▷ How to fix Unity Web Player malfunction

Unity is a popular cross-platform game engine that is the core of many modern games. Unity started with Apple in 2005 Y, from 2018, has made its way to more than 25 different platforms. Used to create endgame mechanics, including 3D, VR, augmented reality and simulations, etc.

Unity web player not working

However, after 2017, there have been numerous reports from end users and developers that Unity Web Player stopped working in their web browsers. This situation was experienced all over the world and affected everyone.

Why did this happened? In this article, we will review all the reasons, as well as the solutions you can implement to avoid the problem.

Unity Web Player is deprecated

From 2019, most browsers stopped supporting Unity Web Player. These browsers include Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. Over time, numerous browsers have started deprecating support for NPAPI plugins including Unity 3D web player and Java.

NPAPI (Netscape Plug-in Application Programming Interface) is an API for developing browser extensions and was first released for Netscape browsers around $ 002795. As HTML5 continues to gain popularity and support with newer versions of browsers, plugins using NPAPI are being phased out.

Instead, Unity itself has asked developers to switch to WebGL (Web graphics library), which is a JavaScript API and is used to render 3D and 2D graphics within any specified browser without the use of any kind. of accessories. This is the modern version of web processing and has gained a lot of traction over the years for its simplicity but effectiveness.

How to make Unity Web Player work?

Although Unity Web Player is officially deprecated and there are no options to activate it in the current browser, there are still some solutions that can be done to get the web player up and running. Then, we list some of the methods you can use, but we warn you that there is no guarantee that everything will run smoothly (this is obvious as there is no official support).

Make sure to start the solutions with the first one and work your way down. Listed in order of utility and complexity.

Solution 1: using Internet Explorer 11 y Safari

Although the most popular browsers no longer support the Unity Web player, the default browsers that ship with Windows and Mac operating systems are. This means that there is still support “official” on these platforms, but it could disappear very soon or the browsers themselves (IE11) could depreciate. Make sure you are logged in as administrator on your computer before implementing the solution.

1. Go to the official Unity Web Player website and download Web Player for Windows or macOS. Unity Web Player official depreciation notice

2. After installing the installation package, restart your computer. Press Windows + S, scribe $ 0027 Internet Explorer $ 0027 and open the app. Relaunch of Internet Explorer

In case you have an Apple machine, you can start safari on it. Now try to open the content that was causing the error and check if the problem is resolved.

Solution 2: install the extended support version of Firefox

Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) is a version of Firefox used by organizations or companies that need extended support for mass deployment. Compared to the fast versions of $ 0027 from the native Firefox app, Firefox ESR is not updated with new features every 6 weeks. Instead, only updates that are known to be critical or to contain critical security updates are sent.

It seems that Firefox ESR still supports NPAPI, including Unity Web Player. You can download this version of Firefox and then try to start the content. In most cases, everything will work as expected.

1. Go to the official Firefox ESR website and download the version of 32 bits according to your language. Downloading the extended support version of Firefox

2. Right click on the executable and select Run as administrator. Unity web player

3. After installing the software, restart your computer and try to access the content and see if the problem is solved.

Solution 3: install older version of browsers in virtual box

If you can't get the desired experience in Internet Explorer or Safari, the only way to make Unity Web Player work in the most popular browsers is to download an older version of them and install them inside a virtual box. We cannot install them directly in the main image of our operating system because the latest version will already be installed (In most cases) and an older version can't replace the latest version smoothly.

The virtual box is an application that allows users to create a litter box (independent and separate space) within the operating system so that users can easily install other operating systems on it. You can read our article on How to configure Windows 10 in VirtualBox. Make sure you have VirtualBox installed on your computer beforehand. Otherwise, you can download it from oracle official website.

1. Start Windows 10 in your Virtual Box. Now, you need to install the following versions of the browsers in your Virtual Box.

Chrome Version 45
Firefox Version 50
Opera version 37

These are the links that you can use to access your entire browsing history. Make sure to go back to the previous pages and download the older versions accordingly.

Downloading the old version of Chrome

Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

Opera

1. After installing the browsers, you can navigate to the content that Unity Web Player requires and try to run it. Check if it works properly without problems.

Solution 4: activate chrome flag NPAPI

If you have installed an older version of Chrome in your virtual box but still cannot get Unity Web Player to work, the NPAPI Chrome flag may be disabled in your browser settings. This function, if not enabled by default, will be available to change in the experimental settings. The experimental setup indicates that these characteristics “they can” start up your team, but they will have their own drawbacks.

1. Launch the old version of Google Chrome that you just downloaded in the Solution 2.

2. Type the following in the address bar of the browser:

chrome://flags/#enable-npapi

Enabling NPAPI – Chromium

1. Now, NPAPI control settings will open. Click on the Enable button present and restart the browser.

2. After restarting it, try to access the game / platform in the browser and see if this works.

If you are a developer

If you are a developer wondering if Unity Web Player has a chance to come back, it probably won't. Unity Web Player is really depreciated because there are better technologies available that are more rational and provide better functionality.

You should consider migrating your game / content to WebGL technologies. Almost all companies (including Unity) promote these technologies. You can navigate to Unity's help page on how to create and run a WebGL project. You will also find countless tutorials on how to migrate your game from one technology to another.