Epic claims its new ‘vibe coded’ store launcher outpaces Steam in speed.

Epic Games, the force behind Fortnite, is diving headfirst into the world of generative AI, and they want gamers to take notice. In a recent blog update, the Epic Games Store Team announced the availability of a preview build for their revamped store launcher. They even claim this new launcher outpaces Steam in several key areas. However, there’s a significant caveat: the launcher was “vibe coded.”

“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,” the blog post states. For those unfamiliar with “vibe coding,” it refers to using AI to generate code without a full understanding of how the resulting program operates. While some software engineers criticize this approach for its potential lack of maintainability and increased security risks, AI enthusiasts have embraced it.

As for the differences in this new Epic Games Store version, Epic describes it as “light on features,” likening it to a speedboat rather than a yacht. It does include advanced digital commerce technology, such as a shopping cart. However, given the security vulnerabilities that vibe coded software can introduce, entering your credit card information into this program might feel a bit unsettling.

Epic compares the new launcher to Steam, claiming it boots in 5.47 seconds, which is about 46% faster on a cold start than Valve’s platform. They also note that their store is 14% quicker than Steam when restoring from the system tray to the library.

The new launcher promises “snappier navigation between library and store” and “less load on your system while it runs in the background.” The preview build features voice chat, more detailed information on games in your library, customizable library views, faster filtering options, and enhanced data on download speeds.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been vocal about the company’s direction, emphasizing a shift toward “maximum AI acceleration.” In a recent post, he stated:

We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.

The goal isn’t to do the same tasks with fewer people, but to empower everyone to create MORE and BETTER content, benefiting all teams using Unreal.

This isn’t Sweeney’s first pro-AI statement. After U.S. senators urged Apple and Google to remove a social media platform from their app stores due to an influx of AI-generated inappropriate content, Sweeney argued that banning the app was a form of political censorship. Epic has previously acknowledged using AI to assist in creating Fortnite skins and faced backlash for a controversial AI-powered Darth Vader NPC that was manipulated to use slurs.