Instant Games

Legacy Web Games (Canvas Games)

Updated: Mar 3, 2026
Copy for LLM
ARCHIVED -- Canvas Games have been deprecated and are no longer actively supported.

What were Canvas Games?

Canvas Games (also known as Facebook Canvas or Legacy Web Games) were browser-based games that ran inside an iframe on facebook.com. They were the original format for games on the Facebook platform, introduced in 2007.
When a player launched a Canvas Game, Facebook loaded the game in a dedicated area of the facebook.com interface. The game ran entirely in the player’s web browser and communicated with Facebook through the JavaScript SDK for features like login, social graph access, payments, and sharing.

How Canvas Games worked

  • Hosting: Developers hosted their game on their own servers. Facebook embedded the game via an iframe that pointed to your server URL.
  • Authentication: Players were authenticated through Facebook Login, giving the game access to the player’s profile, friends list, and other data (with permission).
  • Social Features: Games could post to players’ timelines, send requests to friends, and access the social graph to power multiplayer and social mechanics.
  • Payments: Facebook provided a payments system that allowed games to sell virtual goods and in-game currency. Facebook processed payments and took a revenue share.
  • Discovery: Games were discoverable through the Facebook App Center, bookmarks, News Feed stories, and game requests sent between friends.

Mobile Canvas

Facebook also supported a mobile version of Canvas Games that allowed the same iframe-based games to run in the Facebook mobile app’s built-in browser. Mobile Canvas was also deprecated as part of the broader transition to Instant Games.

Why were Canvas Games deprecated?

Canvas Games were deprecated for several reasons:
  • Technology evolution: The iframe-based architecture had inherent limitations in performance, load time, and mobile compatibility. Modern game frameworks and the HTML5 ecosystem made it possible to deliver better experiences through the Instant Games platform.
  • Mobile-first shift: As Facebook’s user base shifted heavily toward mobile, the Canvas Games architecture, which was designed primarily for desktop browsers, became less relevant. Instant Games was designed specifically for mobile clients.
  • Simplified developer experience: Instant Games provides a more streamlined SDK, built-in hosting, and a simpler distribution model compared to the Canvas Games platform.
  • Privacy and permissions changes: The Facebook platform evolved toward more restrictive data access policies. Canvas Games relied on broad permissions that were no longer aligned with the platform’s direction.

Migration path

Facebook encouraged developers who had active Canvas Games to migrate to the Instant Games platform. The key migration steps included:
  1. Rebuilding the game using the Instant Games SDK and HTML5 technologies.
  2. Adapting to the Instant Games data model, which provides more limited (and more privacy-conscious) access to player data.
  3. Migrating player accounts when the Zero Permissions migration guide supports the identity type, to transition player identity.
  4. Updating monetization from the Facebook Payments system to Audience Network ads and/or the Instant Games in-app purchase system.
For detailed migration guidance, refer to the Zero Permissions migration guide in the main documentation.

Historical reference

Canvas Games architecture

Player's Browser
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  v
facebook.com (Canvas Page)
  |
  v
iframe --> Developer's Server (Game)
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  v
Facebook JavaScript SDK
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  v
Facebook Graph API (Social Data, Payments, etc.)

Key technologies

  • Facebook JavaScript SDK: Provided authentication, social features, and payments integration.
  • Graph API: Allowed games to read and write social data (with user permission).
  • Facebook Payments: A payment processing system for virtual goods and currency.
  • App Center: The primary discovery mechanism for Canvas Games.
  • Game Requests: A notification system that let players invite friends and send in-game items.

Timeline

  • 2007: Facebook Platform launched, enabling third-party apps and games on facebook.com.
  • 2007-2012: Canvas Games experienced rapid growth, with titles reaching tens of millions of monthly active users.
  • 2016: Facebook launched Instant Games as the next-generation gaming platform.
  • 2018-2020: Canvas Games were gradually deprecated, with developers encouraged to migrate to Instant Games.