Epic releases AI-assisted Games Launcher preview, claims faster startup than Steam
publishers 20articles 26first reported 14 Oct, 13:55 UTCdeveloping since 14 Oct · 8 editions
Epic Games has released a public preview of a redesigned Epic Games Launcher built with assistance from AI, describing the project as “vibe coded.” The company says the new app starts 46% faster than Steam from a cold launch to the store page and that its game library loads 30 times faster than the existing Epic launcher.
Epic Games Store general manager Martin Keely told PC Gamer that a small team rebuilt the launcher from scratch in a different technology stack, using AI to write and review features rather than reusing the previous code. Keely told IGN that the approach helped Epic develop the launcher more quickly across platforms. The preview supports Windows and Mac, while Linux support is planned.
The redesign adds dedicated pages for games, a unified downloads screen, library collections and access to games installed through other launchers. Testing by Ars Technica found that it launched faster, while Engadget found that it felt less cumbersome than its predecessor, although Ars said Epic’s claimed 0.06-second advantage over Steam when restoring from the system tray was effectively unnoticeable.
Epic cautioned that the preview may contain bugs and lacks some social and account-management features. After initially recommending that Unreal developers and competitive Fortnite and Rocket League players retain the old launcher, Epic removed that guidance. A company spokesperson said games, developer tools and non-gaming applications should work as intended once launched. Epic plans a stable release after collecting feedback and addressing problems.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 24 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 20
- Source articles
- 26
- Given to the writer
- 8, 3 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 24 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Correct the testing attribution so Engadget is not credited with a speed finding it did not report. - "Testing by Ars Technica and Engadget found that it launched faster and felt less cumbersome than its predecessor": This wrongly implies Engadget tested and found the launcher faster; the supplied Engadget excerpt only says it was less clunky, while Ars performed the startup-speed test.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Epic releases AI-assisted Games Launcher preview, claims faster startup than Steam
Epic Games has released a public preview of a redesigned Epic Games Launcher built with assistance from AI, describing the project as “vibe coded.” The company says the new app starts 46% faster than Steam from a cold launch to the store page and that its game library loads 30 times faster than the existing Epic launcher.
Epic Games Store general manager Martin Keely told PC Gamer that a small team rebuilt the launcher from scratch in a different technology stack, using AI to write and review features rather than reusing the previous code. Keely told IGN that the approach helped Epic develop the launcher more quickly across platforms. The preview supports Windows and Mac, while Linux support is planned.
The redesign adds dedicated pages for games, a unified downloads screen, library collections and access to games installed through other launchers. Testing by Ars Technica andfound that it launched faster, while Engadget found that it launched faster and felt less cumbersome than its predecessor, although Ars said Epic’s claimed 0.06-second advantage over Steam when restoring from the system tray was effectively unnoticeable.
Epic cautioned that the preview may contain bugs and lacks some social and account-management features. After initially recommending that Unreal developers and competitive Fortnite and Rocket League players retain the old launcher, Epic removed that guidance. A company spokesperson said games, developer tools and non-gaming applications should work as intended once launched. Epic plans a stable release after collecting feedback and addressing problems.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →