Epic Games Launches AI-Coded Launcher Preview, Claims 46% Faster Startup Than Steam

Epic Games has launched a redesigned, AI-assisted Epic Games Launcher Preview, claiming it starts 46% faster than rival gaming platform Steam. The announcement comes as Valve has also introduced startup performance improvements to its own Steam client.

 

TL;DR

• Epic Games released its new "vibe-coded" launcher preview on October 14, 2026, for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Epic claims a 5.47-second startup time, compared with Steam's 10.07 seconds in commissioned testing.
• Valve's October 13 update improved Steam startup performance, while an unofficial test subsequently reported a 5.23-second launch.
• The preview also introduces redesigned game libraries, download management, and social features.

 

Epic Games Claims Its AI-Coded Launcher Is Faster Than Steam

Epic Games has introduced a completely rebuilt version of its Epic Games Launcher, developed using artificial intelligence (AI) coding tools, with improvements to startup times, responsiveness, and overall usability.

The company announced the preview on October 14 with a playful explanation of its development approach.

"Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher," Epic said in its official announcement.

The company also directly compared its redesigned launcher against Steam, claiming that the new version offers faster startup and navigation performance.

According to Epic's published benchmarks, its new launcher takes 5.47 seconds to open from a cold start and reach the store, while Steam takes 10.07 seconds under the tested conditions. This makes Epic's launcher approximately 46% faster in terms of startup time.

Epic also claims that switching from the background to the game library takes just 0.36 seconds, compared with 0.42 seconds for Steam.

These measurements were conducted by Keywords Studios, an independent testing company commissioned by Epic. The methodology involved five tests on each of 13 machines, with the three lowest-end systems excluded from the final averages.

However, these figures do not establish that Epic's launcher will consistently outperform Steam on every computer.

Speaking to PC Gamer, Epic Games Store General Manager Martin Keely confirmed that the company rebuilt the launcher from scratch using a new architecture.

"We started from scratch," said Keely, explaining that AI was used to write and review new features rather than simply reproduce the existing code.

 

Valve's Steam Update Also Improves Startup Performance

Interestingly, Valve has also improved startup performance in its latest Steam client update, creating a fresh point of comparison between the rival gaming platforms.

The official Steam Client Update released on October 13 specifically lists improved startup performance among its changes, alongside enhancements to Big Picture Mode, game recording, controller support, and Remote Play.

Following the update, a video shared on X by @girlglock_ reportedly showed Steam starting in approximately 5.23 seconds.

That is marginally faster than the 5.47-second startup time advertised by Epic for its new launcher.

However, the 5.23-second result comes from an individual user's test, not an official Valve benchmark. The hardware, configuration, and testing conditions have not been established as equivalent to Epic's measurements.

The comparison was subsequently highlighted by Wccftech, which portrayed Valve's improvement as a response to Epic's speed claims.

There is also an important distinction in the timing.

Valve's October 13 update preceded Epic's October 14 launcher announcement. Therefore, although the developments have sparked comparisons between the platforms, there is no verified evidence that Valve released its improvements in response to Epic's announcement.

Epic Brings Redesigned Libraries And Linux Support

Beyond startup improvements, Epic's redesigned launcher introduces several features intended to make managing PC games more convenient.

The new interface combines library navigation, dedicated game pages, customizable collections, and improved download management.

Users can search and filter their libraries, switch between grid and detail views, monitor download speeds, and access integrated party and voice chat features.

The launcher also supports shortcuts to games from other PC libraries, reducing the need to navigate between different applications to find installed titles.

Most notably, the preview introduces native Linux support for the first time, alongside Windows and macOS availability.

Epic has also announced plans to bring Fortnite to Linux by rebuilding its Easy Anti-Cheat system and working with Linux distribution maintainers to meet security requirements.

However, Fortnite's Linux release date has not been confirmed.

The new launcher remains in its preview stage, meaning some features available in the older client are still missing, including certain social and account management functions.

Epic says users' purchased games, installed titles, cloud saves, and progress will carry over to the redesigned launcher.

Its official installation page also notes that installing the preview automatically uninstalls the legacy version.

For now, Epic is collecting user feedback before rolling out additional features and optimizations ahead of the stable release.