react-brainAbout games, 3D & AR/VR — interactive / real-time rendering
Diataxis: Explanation. This page builds understanding of the games/3D/AR-VR decision — why the shelf splits by what you are drawing, and where each option puts the render loop. It is not an engine-setup guide and not a graphics API reference. The candidate list and one-line tradeoffs live in the index entry
RB-E-GAMES; render-performance depth is owned by thereact-native-best-practicesskill. Read this for the why.
The one idea that organises everything: a game is a render loop, not a component tree
React's unit of work is the component tree; a game's unit of work is the loop. The entry's own vocabulary says so, option by option: react-native-skia is a "GPU 2D drawing loop", react-native-game-engine is an "entity-component loop", WebGPU is "3D render pipelines", and Godot is a whole engine that "runs off-thread (separate from RN's JS thread)". So the organising question for this shelf is not which component library but where does the loop live, and who drives it — React orchestrates, the loop draws:
- Skia gives the loop a declarative face. The Shopify architecture piece under this entry spells out how: JSI for direct C++/JS communication, a custom React reconciler powering the declarative API, and Reanimated-driven animation. Your components describe; Skia draws.
- Godot doesn't share the loop with React at all: the engine is embedded (
RTNGodotView, by Born & Migeran) and runs off-thread, separate from RN's JS thread. - WebGPU (react-native-webgpu, formerly react-native-wgpu; by William Candillon, not Software Mansion) builds 3D render pipelines on Google's Dawn, driven UI-thread via Reanimated/worklets — the entry's own label: advanced.
- react-three-fiber keeps the scene in the component tree — declarative 3D scenes as React components, v9 running in RN via expo-gl — the 3D-in-an-app path without a game engine.
- react-native-game-engine names the loop in its API — an entity-component loop for simple 2D games — and is effectively unmaintained (last release v1.2.0, 2020).
The AR/VR shelf is the scoping caveat: the entry describes ReactVision, react-native-visionos, and the first-party Quest path in platform-target terms (which headset, which fork, which architecture requirement), not loop terms. The loop lens above covers the 2D/3D options; the AR/VR facet is organised by target instead, and this doc says so rather than stretching the metaphor.
The default, and why
2D / interactive visuals → react-native-skia. Declarative 3D inside a normal app → react-three-fiber (@react-three/fiber + expo-gl). Real game engine → embed Godot (react-native-godot), the weakest leg: dormant since 2025-11, pin it. AR/VR → ReactVision (RN 0.86 + Expo SDK 57 only). RN suits supplemental/interactive experiences more than AAA games; the RN version you are on decides the AR/VR and visionOS picks.
Four shelves, split by what you are drawing, plus a ceiling the entry states twice: RN suits
supplemental/interactive experiences more than AAA games. The when-clauses refine the
shelves: a simple 2D game loop → react-native-game-engine (with its maintenance caveat); 3D or
compute shaders → WebGPU, explicitly "advanced"; 3D product views / scenes in a normal app →
@react-three/fiber + expo-gl, no engine needed; mobile AR or cross-platform VR including Meta
Quest → ReactVision (New Architecture required; 3.x on RN 0.86, 2.58.x on RN 0.83-0.85); an
Apple Vision Pro app → ReactVision's @reactvision/react-native-visionos fork (tracks RN 0.86),
else Callstack's react-native-visionos.
The landscape, facet by facet
react-native-skia — the common base for RN games and interactive visuals: a GPU 2D drawing
loop under a declarative API. The enduring design (per the Shopify reading): JSI, a custom
React reconciler, Reanimated-driven animation. It is changing hands (2026-09-21; RB-E-ANIMATION
owns the thread): Shopify sponsors it through the end of 2026, then the author forks and
republishes under a new name. Nothing is deprecated today, so there is no reason to leave it.
@react-three/fiber (three.js) — declarative 3D scenes as React components; v9 runs in RN via expo-gl (verified vs npm). The path for 3D inside an app when you don't need an engine. 9.8.0 (2026-09-22) is compatible with React 19.3.0, the React line RN 0.88 syncs in, but not every new 19.3 API is supported yet — upgrade R3F and RN 0.88 together.
react-native-godot (@borndotcom) — embed the Godot engine itself (RTNGodotView; by Born
& Migeran), running off-thread from RN's JS thread. The "real game engine" answer, and the
weakest leg of the default: a 2026-09-10 challenge rated it WEAKENED because 1.0.1
(2025-11-04) is still its last npm publish. Adopt it as a pinned, dormant dependency.
WebGPU (react-native-webgpu) — 3D render pipelines on Google's Dawn, UI-thread via
Reanimated/worklets. Advanced; note the identity details the entry pins down: formerly
react-native-wgpu, by William Candillon, not Software Mansion. The old name now carries an npm
deprecation ("renamed to react-native-webgpu"): install react-native-webgpu and update
imports.
react-native-filament (Margelo) — Google's Filament physically-based renderer as declarative React components, the mid ground between R3F-over-GL and a game engine. Quiet since its 1.11.0 publish on 2026-05-27; check pulse before betting on it.
react-native-game-engine — entity-component loop for simple 2D games; effectively unmaintained (last release v1.2.0, 2020).
ReactVision (@reactvision/react-viro) — AR/VR from one RN codebase: iPhone/Android AR plus Meta Quest. The maintained fork of react-viro; New Architecture (Fabric) REQUIRED; active (3.0.1, 2026-09-21, verified vs npm). The 3.0 major raised its peer range to react-native
=0.86.0 <0.87.0 and Expo SDK 57 (2.58.1 accepted RN 0.83-0.86 and SDK 55+); neither line admits RN 0.87, so an app on 0.87+ cannot take ReactVision today.
react-native-visionos (Callstack) — a full RN fork targeting Apple Vision Pro / the visionOS SDK (~1.1k★). CAUTION, and the load-bearing fact: its latest npm release is 0.79.6 (2025-08-23) while core is on 0.87 — verify parity before betting.
@reactvision/react-native-visionos — ReactVision's visionOS fork, an out-of-tree platform
(ios/, android/ and visionos/ from one JS codebase) that exists so ViroReact renders on
visionOS. 0.86.4 (2026-09-20) tracks RN 0.86 and is the fork ReactVision 3 requires.
First-party Meta Quest (2026-07-10, verified vs the official RN blog) — React Native now
supports Meta Quest / Horizon OS directly via the expo-horizon-core config plugin, with Expo
Go on the Horizon Store. A first-party 2D-panel path that sits beside ReactVision's
immersive AR/VR, not in competition with it.
Provenance: the AR/VR + 3D options were added 2026-07-09 — a gap flagged by Native Weekly
#15's ReactVision feature and promoted on the user's call — each verified against npm, the
Callstack repo, or the RN blog as noted above. The entry's detect rows also make this shelf a
doctor signal: any of @reactvision/react-viro, @react-three/fiber,
@borndotcom/react-native-godot, react-native-wgpu, or react-native-game-engine in
package.json routes advice here.
Tradeoffs and failure modes to name out loud
- Pitching RN at an AAA game. The ceiling appears in both the recommendation and the note: RN suits supplemental/interactive experiences more than AAA games. This shelf is for visuals, scenes, and embedded engines inside apps — niche by the entry's own word.
- Betting on a visionOS fork without checking the lag. Callstack's last release is 0.79.6 (2025-08-23); ReactVision's fork tracks 0.86. Check which RN line each fork is on before betting.
- Upgrading RN past 0.86 with ReactVision installed. Both ReactVision lines peer
react-native <0.87.0; the RN upgrade and the AR/VR dependency must move together. - ReactVision on the old architecture. New Architecture (Fabric) is REQUIRED — a hard precondition, not a preference.
- Reaching for react-native-game-engine as if it were current. It is the when-clause answer for a simple 2D game loop, and it is effectively unmaintained — last release v1.2.0, in 2020. Both facts travel together.
- Treating WebGPU as a default. The entry labels it advanced, twice (option row and when-clause). It is the 3D/compute-shaders answer, not the starting point.
- Assuming immersive is the only Quest path. Since 2026-02 there is a first-party 2D-panel
path (
expo-horizon-core, Expo Go on the Horizon Store) beside ReactVision's immersive AR/VR — pick by whether you need immersion, not by which library you found first.
How it interacts with the rest of the stack
- Animation (
RB-E-ANIMATION). The same machinery drives both shelves: Skia's animation is Reanimated-driven (per the Shopify reading) and WebGPU runs UI-thread via Reanimated/worklets. That entry's doc pairsRB-E-GAMESwith GPU drawing explicitly. - SVG (
RB-E-SVG). The sibling GPU-drawing shelf — declarative vector drawing where this entry is loops and engines. (Pairing inherited from the animation doc, not this entry's text.) - RN versions (
RB-E-RN-VERSIONS). Two of the AR/VR options are version/architecture gates in disguise: the visionOS forks track specific RN lines (0.79 for Callstack, 0.86 for ReactVision), and ReactVision requires Fabric and peers RN 0.86 exactly. What your app can adopt depends on where core is. - Performance depth (
react-native-best-practices). The defer skill; the entry names it without scoping. Render-perf rules and thresholds live there, not here.
In one paragraph
Games, 3D, and AR/VR in React Native organise around one idea: a game is a render loop, not
a component tree — React orchestrates, the loop draws. The default splits by what you draw:
2D / interactive visuals → react-native-skia (a GPU 2D drawing loop with a declarative
face — JSI, a custom React reconciler, Reanimated-driven animation); declarative 3D inside a
normal app → react-three-fiber v9 via expo-gl, no engine needed; a real game engine →
embed Godot (RTNGodotView, off-thread from RN's JS thread); AR/VR → ReactVision, the
maintained react-viro fork (Fabric required, 3.x peers RN 0.86 + Expo SDK 57). WebGPU (Dawn,
UI-thread via worklets; install react-native-webgpu, the old react-native-wgpu name is
deprecated) is the advanced 3D/compute path; react-native-game-engine still answers "simple 2D
loop" but is unmaintained since 2020; Godot's embed is dormant since 2025-11; for Vision Pro,
ReactVision's fork tracks RN 0.86 while Callstack's last release is 0.79.6; and Meta Quest now has a first-party 2D-panel path
via expo-horizon-core. The ceiling is stated twice in the entry: RN suits
supplemental/interactive experiences more than AAA games.
See also: RB-E-ANIMATION (Reanimated/worklets — the shared drive train), RB-E-SVG (the
declarative GPU-drawing sibling), RB-E-RN-VERSIONS (the visionos pin and the Fabric gate are
version questions). Render-performance depth: the react-native-best-practices skill.
Background reading: Shopify on react-native-skia's architecture — the enduring design under
RN's 2D GPU drawing.