Docker images are MB; a full game engine compiles to 35MB WASM

# Docker images are hundreds of MB; a full game engine compiles to 35MB WASM Source: [https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/wasm-vs-docker/](https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/wasm-vs-docker/) I exported a game skeleton to WebAssembly a few hours ago and was surprised by the artifact size\. Full 3D engine – GL Compatibility renderer, Jolt physics, GDScript runtime, Ink narrative interpreter\. The binary: 35MB\. Runs in any browser, zero install\. Facebook’s homepage loads 44MB\. The game engine is 35MB\. ## [\#](https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/wasm-vs-docker/#try-it)Try it [Fullscreen](https://pub-cab470135ad64bbf9490e4c1ce5fa431.r2.dev/stanica/index.html), WASD, Esc\. ###### [\#](https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/wasm-vs-docker/#the-thing-that-weighs-less-than-a-base-image)The thing that weighs less than a base image `python:3\.14\-slim\-trixie`– the slim base, before you add a single dependency – is 144MB\. Even a[careful minimal build with uv](https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/docker-uv/)lands at 282MB\. ## [\#](https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/wasm-vs-docker/#landscape)Landscape Sizes from my browser and local Docker cache: ItemSizeGoogle homepage \(all resources, 43 requests\)10MBthis game \(Godot 4, full engine\)35MBFacebook homepage \(all resources, 379 requests\)44MBlivekit/livekit\-server \(Go, WebRTC\)75MBpython:3\.14\-slim\-trixie144MBpython:3\.14\-slim\-trixie \+ minimal deps282MBREST API from my job300–400MBnode:latest \(19M pulls/week\)421MBghcr\.io/gohugoio/hugo423MBPython\-based AI agent from my job1\.45GBHugo: 423MB to generate static HTML\. The game engine is 35MB 😌 The Go binaries \(livekit at 75MB\) are already close\. ## [\#](https://bogomolov.work/blog/posts/wasm-vs-docker/#the-open-question)The open question On one hand, Go could be a solution, but`wasip1`is still preview – no sockets in the standard runtime, no threads\. Zig is closer, but not there either\. Only Rust and C/C\+\+ are practical options today\. On the other hand – Cloudflare Workers can load WASM modules, containerd has runwasi, Kubernetes has kwasm experiments, WASI runtimes exist\. So why has WASM adoption stalled? The transfer\-size case is already there: roughly 10×\. Why isn’t that enough to become standard practice? Same as ARM nodes a few years ago: cheaper, denser, widely available – still not the default choice\.