Epic's new launcher was coded by AI and boots faster than Steam

Epic Games just released a preview of its redesigned Epic Games Store launcher for Windows, Mac and Linux. The company says it boots in 5.47 seconds on a cold start, which it claims is 46 percent faster than Steam. That's the headline number, but the bigger story is how Epic built it.

Epic calls the development method "vibe coded." That means AI tools were prompted to produce the actual code. The company used AI to write and review code for the launcher, with human developers supervising the process. It's not a side experiment—Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced the company is pivoting toward what he calls maximum AI acceleration across all development teams.

What the new launcher does

The redesigned launcher includes a cleaner library view, faster navigation and the ability to import shortcuts from other game clients like Steam. Epic also announced plans to bring Fortnite to Linux through the new launcher, which is a first for the battle royale game on that platform.

The features sound useful, especially if you juggle libraries across multiple storefronts. The speed claim is aggressive, but until independent testers confirm it on a range of hardware, take it as Epic's internal benchmark.

The AI coding push

Bloomberg reported that a director on an unannounced Disney project at Epic told staffers there would be no more hand-written code. Epic VP Martin Keely clarified that the launcher team used AI agents to write and review code, but developers still supervised. That leaves some ambiguity about how far Epic is willing to go with AI-generated software on other projects.

For players, the risk is that AI-written code might introduce bugs or performance issues that human coders would catch. For developers inside Epic, the shift raises obvious concerns about job security and whether AI can handle complex game systems without constant human correction.

The launcher preview is available now if you want to try it. It's free, it's cross-platform and it might save you a few seconds every time you boot up. Whether Epic's AI coding experiment pays off in stability and feature quality is something we'll see over the next few months as more people use it.