Epic Games vibe codes new launcher because 'programming is hard,' claims it starts 46% faster than Steam

Epic Games vibe codes new launcher because 'programming is hard,' claims it starts 46% faster than Steam — Preview is available now but still in beta stage [Updated]

You can respect the honesty, at least.

Update October 14 at 2:12pm ET: Brian Sharon, senior communications manager for Epic Games, shared the following statement: "The new Epic Games Launcher is in Preview for testing, and with any beta there could be issues. To be clear: once you're in a game you're good to go. The same goes for developer tools and non-gaming applications. All of the services will work as intended, and there's nothing that would prevent casual or competitive play."

Epic Games has updated its blog post to remove the recommendation that developers and competitive players avoid the new preview. The original article continues below unchanged.

Epic Games has a new launcher available to download now, which was redesigned with AI. The company says it "vibe coded" the new launcher, and claims it's "way faster" than the current version, as well as 46% faster to start up compared to Steam. Epic Games has set up a landing page where you can download the new launcher, as well as browse its new enhancements.

"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, and has a new look," wrote Epic Games in a blog post discussing the new launcher. The launcher is currently in "preview" phase, which is somewhat of an open beta. Epic is gathering feedback, and anyone is free to download the launcher. In the future, it plans a stable release after it gathers and addresses feedback.

Although the headline startup figure is what Epic focused on its blog post, the updated launcher comes with several additional features, many of which are preset on Steam but weren't previously available with Epic. There are dedicated pages for games in your library now, for instance, as well as a unified downloads page. The app also includes collections, a big feature of Steam, allowing you to organize your library into different categories. On the landing page, Epic claims the new library is "30x faster," though doesn't provide any details beyond that point.

Although the launcher has new features, it's still rough around the edges. For instance, the new social menu now follows you around from the store to your library, with no option to close or resize. Epic also highlights that "certain social features and account management options" are missing from the new launcher. The company says it's working toward "feature parity."

Additionally, Epic Games suggests developers working on Unreal projects, as well as competitive players in Fortnite and Rocket League continue to use the old launcher. It's not clear why Epic is pointing these groups toward the older launcher, but it raises some red flags about what gaps might be present in the new, vibe coded launcher.

Epic says its new launcher is 46% faster than Steam from a cold start, as well as 14% faster when restoring from the system tray; though, the latter metric only accounts for a whopping 0.06 seconds. Epic commissioned the testing from Keywords Studios, somewhat of a matchmaker in the video games and entertainment industry for a variety of services (including benchmarking, apparently). Epic says its results were gathered from five tests across 13 Windows platforms.

Interestingly, Epic didn't provide any performance details about the new launcher compared to the old one, outside of saying the new launcher is "way faster and more responsive."

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The Epic Games Launcher preview is available to download now, with native versions for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Windows 10 and 11 are supported, as is macOS 12 or newer. On Linux, you'll need at least Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Fedora 43, or Debian 12.

Epic has recently pivoted to an AI-first company, at least according to Epic boss Tim Sweeney. The company has reportedly delayed a Disney-based shooter, with another director telling staff that there should be "no more handwritten code" and that art will be "generated with full AI workflows."

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Jake Roach is the Senior CPU Analyst at Tom's Hardware, writing reviews, news, and features about the latest consumer and workstation processors.

Roland Of Gilead Who'd have thought! It's actually very fast. More so than Steam too.Reply

It's not a bad effort for a first release. The current Epic app is brutal.

Kindaian Yes, but is it secured / safe? Part of the issue with vibe-coding is not that it doesn't work. It is all the other characteristics of software that are not asked when prompting for it to be done. Things like security, resilience, correctness, and similar characteristics.Reply

hotaru251 Reply"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, and has a new look,"

if its hard then you are in the wrong line of work.

If you think its hard to do..what makes you think they cared to actually make sure its good code? Vibe coding isnt bad...if you can do it yourself and go over said code to verify it.

This type of statement is not that type of trust behind it.

salgado18 Reply

I've had Claude Code follow safety procedures that no one in the team was remembering. Also lots of tests, validations and for everything else, it's a prompt away ("check if the login flow is secure enough").Kindaian said:Yes, but is it secured / safe? Part of the issue with vibe-coding is not that it doesn't work. It is all the other characteristics of software that are not asked when prompting for it to be done. Things like security, resilience, correctness, and similar characteristics.

I did vibe-code yesterday a linux app to show everything gpu- and display-related, complete with status, logs and tool reports. Also, I put a small AI local assistant that can ask the app itself for information to help me diagnose issues (a container with ollama goes up with a small model). All of that was built in three hours, and the few issues that popped were solved very fast.

Epic is actually right: the days of programming by hand are over. I bet they will have a fabulous launcher in no time. Now if only they could reduce the data collection (which can get worse with AI)...

King_V "It's so much cooler and better and faster than Steam!! Also, we don't recommend using it at this time."Reply

Not sure this is the flex they're trying to make it out to be. Also, the language feels a little bit of a cross between tech-bro and pre-adolescent.

PrimeGoat They didn't vibe code it. They used AI-assisted engineering. Vibe coding is just asking an LLM to create it and having the AI make it on the spot, without any real engineering rigor. They used a structured spec-driven workflow with testing and verification passes with human oversight. That is a much more effective method and is the correct way to do it.Reply

PrimeGoat Reply

If they vibe coded it, yes. But they didn't. They used a structured workflow with human oversight and verification & testing. There do exist very effective ways to create high quality production code with AI. Vibe coding isn't it.Oldmanclark said:Frankly embarrassing from a software company

PrimeGoat Reply

They used a more rigorous workflow than vibe coding. People tend to not understand AI or how it works, and then misuse terms. A properly designed workflow can spawn an entire dev department complete with rigorous testing, adversarial checks, security audits, etc.hotaru251 said:if its hard then you are in the wrong line of work.

If you think its hard to do..what makes you think they cared to actually make sure its good code? Vibe coding isnt bad...if you can do it yourself and go over said code to verify it.

This type of statement is not that type of trust behind it.

salgado18 Reply

... given enough tokens, that is :rolleyes:PrimeGoat said:They used a more rigorous workflow than vibe coding. People tend to not understand AI or how it works, and then misuse terms. A properly designed workflow can spawn an entire dev department complete with rigorous testing, adversarial checks, security audits, etc.