BitmapData.update causes a snowballing memory leak under WebGL due to a Context.getImageData call. BitmapData.clear used to call update automatically but no longer does. This resolves the issue of the Debug class causing excessive memory build-up in Chrome. Firefox and IE were unaffected (thanks @kingjerod phaserjs#2208)

Author: photonstorm

README.md

@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ If you are an exceptional JavaScript developer and would like to join the Phaser
 
 * Buttons (or any Sprites) that don't have a texture, but have children, would incorrectly render the children under WebGL due to the baseTexture.skipRender property (thanks @puzzud #2141)
 * TilemapParser accidentally redeclared `i` when parsing the ImageCollections which would cause an infinite loop (thanks DanHett)
+* BitmapData.update causes a snowballing memory leak under WebGL due to a Context.getImageData call. BitmapData.clear used to call update automatically but no longer does. This resolves the issue of the Debug class causing excessive memory build-up in Chrome. Firefox and IE were unaffected (thanks @kingjerod #2208)
 
 ### Pixi Updates
 

src/gameobjects/BitmapData.js

@@ -441,6 +441,9 @@ Phaser.BitmapData.prototype = {
     * You can optionally define the area to clear.
     * If the arguments are left empty it will clear the entire canvas.
     *
+    * You may need to call BitmapData.update after this in order to clear out the pixel data, 
+    * but Phaser will not do this automatically for you.
+    *
     * @method Phaser.BitmapData#clear
     * @param {number} [x=0] - The x coordinate of the top-left of the area to clear.
     * @param {number} [y=0] - The y coordinate of the top-left of the area to clear.
@@ -457,8 +460,6 @@ Phaser.BitmapData.prototype = {
 
         this.context.clearRect(x, y, width, height);
 
-        this.update();
-
         this.dirty = true;
 
         return this;
@@ -567,6 +568,8 @@ Phaser.BitmapData.prototype = {
     * It then re-builds the ArrayBuffer, the data Uint8ClampedArray reference and the pixels Int32Array.
     * If not given the dimensions defaults to the full size of the context.
     *
+    * Warning: This is a very expensive operation, so use it sparingly.
+    *
     * @method Phaser.BitmapData#update
     * @param {number} [x=0] - The x coordinate of the top-left of the image data area to grab from.
     * @param {number} [y=0] - The y coordinate of the top-left of the image data area to grab from.