Epic Games Vibe Coded New Launcher with AI to Beat Steam, Announces Maximum AI Acceleration Pivot
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"Programming is hard": Epic Games leans on "vibe coding" for its new Launcher app
Nearly eight years after Epic took on Steam with its own Game Store and launcher, the Fortnite maker is deploying a new tool to give it an edge over Valve: vibe coding. In announcing the new publicly available "Preview" build of its Epic Games Launcher, Epic writes that "programming is hard. So,
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Epic's new games launcher is 'vibe coded'
Epic Games is announcing a big refresh of its PC games launcher today in preview, saying that the new version is "way faster" and now supports Linux. But the company, which has been publicly making a big push into AI-assisted development, also notes that the refresh was "vibe coded." "Programming
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Epic says it vibe coded its new launcher because 'programming is hard'
The new Epic Games Launcher is out in Preview, with Linux support and Fortnite to follow. It lands two days after Bloomberg reported Epic told its Disney game team to stop writing code by hand. "Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher." Epic Games
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Epic Brags That Its New 'Vibe Coded' Store Launcher Is Faster Than Steam
Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, is leaning into generative AI, and they really want you to know it. In a blog post on Wednesday, the Epic Games Store Team announced that a preview build of its new store launcher is available for download. The post even claims the new launcher is faster
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Epic throws shade at Steam and admits to vibe-coding the new Epic Games Launcher with AI "to be faster than the other guy," but also warns there'll be bugs
Epic Games isn't lifting its foot off the gen-AI pedal. The company behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine has now vibe-coded a new Epic Games Launcher in an attempt to outrun Steam, by far the most popular digital games marketplace on PC. The Epic Games Launcher is the platform that grants players
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Epic says 'programming is hard,' so they made a vibe coded games launcher instead
Epic Games is gung-ho on artificial intelligence, and has vibe coded a new version of its game storefront with AI...because "programming is hard." Epic is making a big splash into AI, and the billion-dollar industry anchor is stating it loud and proud. Just yesterday, Bloomberg reported that
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New 'Vibe Coded' Epic Games Launcher Faces Backlash Over Bugs
Epic Games announced this week it was pivoting to AI first development Epic Games has released a new "vibe coded" preview version of its Epic Games Store Launcher that it says is "light on features" but faster and more responsive. The company says the launcher is quicker to load than Steam and has
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Epic's bulletproof plan to outdo Steam: "We vibe coded the Epic Games Launcher"
Epic Games has retooled the Epic Games Store to feel less like molasses in an igloo, and the company says it's now "46% faster than Steam" thanks to the power of partially AI-generated code. "We vibe coded the Epic Games Launcher to be faster than the other guy," Epic says in a recent Twitter
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'Programming Is Hard' -- Epic Says It 'Vibe-Coded' the New Version of Its Games Launcher
"It's obviously an issue that's of high visibility at the moment." Epic has revealed a newly refreshed version of the Epic Games Launcher, its Steam-like platform that provides access to the Epic Games Store, your games library, social features, and a developer's hub. In-keeping with the company's
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Epic Games has created a new AI launcher because "programming is hard"
Preview Linux client supports Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian natively Epic has launched a new version of its launcher for the Epic Games Store, natively compatible with three Linux distros: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later, Fedora 43 or higher, Debian 12 or higher. Although it's still only a preview, it can
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Epic Games released a preview of its new Epic Games Launcher built through vibe coding, claiming 5.47-second cold start times versus Steam's 10.07 seconds. CEO Tim Sweeney announced a company-wide pivot to maximum AI acceleration, while Bloomberg reported Epic's Disney game team was told to stop hand-written code entirely.
Epic Games Launches AI-Driven Launcher Preview
Epic Games released a preview build of its new Epic Games Launcher on October 14, openly declaring the application was "vibe coded" using AI development tools. The announcement came with a provocative opening line: "Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that's way faster and more responsive than the current one."
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Martin Keely, Epic's VP and GM of the Epic Games Store, confirmed the team "started from scratch" and used AI as "a tool to write and review new features and new capabilities from the ground up in a different tech stack."1
The new launcher targets performance issues that have plagued the platform since its 2018 launch. Testing by Keywords Studios in October showed the new Epic Games Launcher boots in 5.47 seconds compared to Steam's 10.07 seconds—a 46% improvement on cold start times.
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Independent verification by Ars Technica confirmed the launcher reaches the store page several seconds faster than Steam.1
The company claims 14% faster performance when restoring from system tray to library, though the 0.06-second difference proved barely noticeable in testing.1
Vibe Coding and AI-Assisted Development Approach
Vibe coding refers to building software primarily through prompts to AI models with minimal hand-written code.
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Keely told The Verge that AI has been "super helpful" for testing and "replicating the core functionality from the existing launcher."2
The development team worked on the new Epic Games Launcher for "most of this year," using AI to accelerate development while maintaining human oversight.2
Keely clarified that while "agents write and review all of the code," the development team "managed that process" and "supervised the entirety of what we did."
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This AI-assisted development enabled Linux support for the first time, with Epic planning to bring Fortnite to the platform through the new launcher.2
The company is rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat as EAC Linux v2, which will be tested in Fortnite first, though no timeline has been announced.3
Tim Sweeney Announces Maximum AI Acceleration Pivot
Two days before the launcher announcement, CEO Tim Sweeney declared on social media that Epic has "a huge pivot underway," moving developers around "to retool for maximum AI acceleration."
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Sweeney emphasized the aim "isn't to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal."1
Bloomberg reported that Epic told its Disney game team—working on an unannounced Marvel and Star Wars shooter—to adopt an AI-first initiative. One director informed staff that there would be "No more hand-written code," with all art "generated with full AI workflows" using tools like Anthropic's Claude.
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The game, originally scheduled for March 2027, has been delayed without a new date after Disney invested $1.5bn in Epic in 2024.3
Some developers expressed concern during the announcement call, questioning whether the approach would work as expected.3
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Feature Limitations and Security Concerns
Epic acknowledged the preview launcher is "light on features" and "will have some bugs."
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The company describes this first release as "a speedboat and not a yacht," currently lacking "certain social features and account management options" from the legacy version.1
It does not support Intel Macs.3
The vibe coding approach has raised concerns among software development veterans about maintainability and security vulnerabilities.
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Critics point to the difficulty of building on code that developers don't fully understand and the increased risk when handling sensitive information like credit card data.4
On Bluesky, critic Chris Franklin called the opening line "absolutely jawdropping" from a company "once renowned for their engine prowess."3
Epic announced a storefront rearchitecture and Launcher V2 private beta at Unreal Fest in June, promising 5x faster cold start times.
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The preview adds requested features including a Recent Games list and centralized downloads hub for tracking network activity.1
Epic is working toward feature parity between the new launcher and the old one, though no specific timeline exists for when users must transition.2
The company will complete the full launch when the update feels "stable" and achieves parity "in all places that we need."2
This AI-first initiative follows Epic's March layoffs affecting more than 1,000 employees. Sweeney stated at the time that "the layoffs aren't related to AI" and blamed falling Fortnite engagement.
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Epic is also building Anthropic's Claude and Gemini into Unreal Engine 6, signaling generative AI integration across its entire development ecosystem.3
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