With 4.24, Epic officially dropped the option to export to HTML5, making it impossible to build web-based content. However, many industry clients demand web-based (i.e. browser based) apps. Some just need as a second alternative to native apps, some want web-based stuff only.
If we don’t get an option to build web-based content, we (as a company) will have to leave UE and turn to its alternatives. I’m sure that many devs and agencies working for industry clients are in the same position.
What are the plans for web-based content with UE4? Is the professional branch dropped entirely or will there be a solution in the future?
I don’t know what the plans are, last I heard they expect the community to maintain the WebGL export, which seems short-sighted but here we are.
Given this decision, I somewhat doubt they will make it an official feature any time soon. Which is sad.
Unity does still support HTML5, but the compatibility is somewhat janky. Mobile is not supported, and even simple projects tend to crash when trying to export. The other option would be to use a native HTML5 framework (like three.js, Babylon.js, etc.) but this makes it harder or not feasible to export to desktop, plus the lack of a good editor makes development difficult. I’ve also toyed with Godot a bit, and it’s promising but not quite there just yet. HTML5 export works okay on desktop, but has really long loading times on mobile (which is pretty common with any engine that relies on asm.js or emscripten). But Godot itself is way behind in the graphics department can can’t compete with Unreal or Unity right now.
So, honestly, there is not a great solution for cross-platform web exports right now. You can either choose to maintain two projects (which is a lot of work) or stick to HTML5 only and use a Javascript library that works well on web (but then you forego the desktop platform). Some people suggested doing all WebGL (either with a library or from scratch) and then using something like Electron to package the web page as a desktop app. This has pros and cons as well, and is not the best solution either.
I would say there is no good answer, but I wish Epic, with all their resources, would not have abandoned HTML5.