Why Chrome is slow when Firefox is not
Every browser has its own switch that decides whether web pages may use the graphics card. When that switch is off in Chrome, a 3D game is drawn by the processor instead, one pixel at a time. The result is 5 to 20 frames per second on a computer that runs the same match at 60 in Firefox. Nothing is wrong with the computer or the game: Chrome has simply been told not to use the graphics card. The switch can be turned off by accident, by a troubleshooting guide for another problem, or by a company setup.
Turn on graphics acceleration in Chrome
Step 1: open a new tab, type chrome://settings/system in the address bar and press Enter. Web pages are not allowed to open that address for you, so it has to be typed or pasted. Step 2: turn on the switch named "Use graphics acceleration when available". Step 3: press the Relaunch button that appears beside it. Chrome closes and reopens with your tabs. Go back to the game and start a match; the frame rate shown in the corner should now be several times higher.
Check that it worked
Open chrome://gpu in a new tab and look at the list at the top. The WebGL and WebGL2 lines should say "Hardware accelerated". If they say "Software only" or mention SwiftShader or the Microsoft Basic Render Driver, acceleration is still off: repeat the steps above, update Chrome, and update your graphics driver. On a managed school or work computer the setting may be locked by the administrator, and only they can change it.
Laptops with two graphics cards
Many laptops have a power-saving graphics chip and a faster NVIDIA or AMD card, and Windows often gives Chrome the slower one. To change that, open Windows Settings, then System, Display, Graphics. Find Google Chrome in the list of apps (use Browse to add it if it is missing), open its options, choose High performance and save. Close Chrome completely and open it again. Keeping the laptop plugged in also helps, because many laptops slow their graphics down on battery.
Edge, Brave, Opera and Firefox
Edge, Brave and Opera are built on the same engine as Chrome and have the same switch: open edge://settings/system, brave://settings/system or opera://settings/system and turn on graphics acceleration, then restart the browser. In Firefox, open Settings, scroll to Performance, untick "Use recommended performance settings" and tick "Use hardware acceleration when available", then restart Firefox.
The game tells you when this happens
Lobbystrike checks how your browser is drawing the game as soon as the start screen opens. If the graphics card is not being used, a glowing button appears above Play and opens these same steps, with a button that copies the settings address for you. Once acceleration is on, the button is gone. If the frame rate is still low after that, lower the graphics preset in Settings, pick a smaller map and close other tabs.
Before you join
Lobbystrike plays best on a desktop or laptop with a keyboard, a mouse and a current WebGL 2 browser. Phones and tablets get on-screen touch controls. The hosted game needs an internet connection. Performance depends on your device, settings and connection. Play opens the game lobby; choose your mode there.
