Overwolf Electron FAQ
General
Q: What is Overwolf Electron?
A: Overwolf Electron is a fork of the Electron.js project, complete with built-in integration with several of Overwolf’s services.
Q: Why Electron.js?
A: Electron.js is an incredibly popular and powerful framework, used by many large gaming desktop apps. It has cross-platform support as well as being part of the Node.js ecosystem. This gives app creators even more flexibility with their development and is a natural choice for Overwolf apps.
Q: Why not use the Overwolf native platform?
A: The Overwolf native platform and the Electron.js framework are vastly different from each other. The Overwolf Electron framework is designed to bridge the gap between Overwolf’s services and apps that already utilize Electron.js.
Q: What are the main differences between Overwolf Electron and Overwolf Native platforms?
A: The main differences between the frameworks is how you develop your apps. Using Overwolf Electron, you develop your app as you would any kind of Electron.js app. Using the Overwolf native platform, you develop your app using the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) project. For a detailed comparison, see Frameworks overview > Detailed comparison.
Q: Will Overwolf Electron framework support Linux or Mac?
A: Currently only ad services are supported for Mac and Linux. Overwolf services such as overlay, game events, and recording are currently in development.
Q: Can I have both Electron.js and Overwolf Electron running at the same time?
A: As a fork of Electron.js we ensure upstream compatibility for specific versions of Electron.js. This makes it possible to use both Overwolf Electron and Electron.js side by side in the same project. In addition, you can use the electron-is-overwolf package to differentiate between the two.
Q: Why a fork and not a module of Electron.js?
A: Overwolf’s services utilize much of the underlying Electron.js framework, the underlying Chromium APIs, and even some OS-level code. By using a forked version of Electron.js, we can ensure that every build’s services will be stable, optimized, reliable, and seamless to integrate.
Q: Why is it closed source?
A: Overwolf Electron utilizes several of our in-house, proprietary services and therefore its not possible to make them open source. This means that most of Overwolf Electron's changes will remain closed source; however, when possible, we plan to publish related/supplementary services as open source.
Q: Is there a difference in revenue generated between an Overwolf Electron app and an Overwolf Native app?
A: No there is no difference in the way the platforms generate revenue. However, there are differences in the monetization polices for each of the platforms. For more information on monetizing your app, see Overwolf native > monetize your app or Overwolf electron > monetize your app.