Can I build 3D or 2D interactive games using React Native?

Question

React runs a JS V8 engine to build the UI in Native. It can obviously hook into the OpenGL native library but can we actually build performant Games using React Native?

Answer 1

Yes, it can be done and the performance looks pretty neat.

Here is a video which demonstrate the same for iOS: A Quick React Native Demo with OpenGL

OpenGL for Android can also be hooked up in a similar way.

Answer 2

It really depends on what type of game you're going to build. I rebuilt my nonogram puzzle game from Obj-C to React Native, and after putting effort into optimization (eliminating redundant renders, using fewer components, and using the Animated API wherever possible), the performance in RN was just a good as Obj-C.

However, this is a 2D puzzle game that doesn't use any sort of fancy rendering--it is just a grid with numbers and a few simple animations. I will also note that I did have to write the grid itself in native code, as it would generate up to 625 RN Views (for a 25x25) puzzle and that just killed performance when it rendered.

In conclusion, RN it without any external libraries is fine for simpler 2D games like puzzles, but I'd hesitate to use it for anything like a platformer, action or 3D game--it's just not made for that.