Epic Games Launches New AI-Enhanced Launcher to Compete with Steam
- Epic Games introduces a newly coded Epic Games Launcher using generative AI.
- The launcher aims to outperform Steam, boasting improved speed and responsiveness.
- The company plans to adopt an “AI first” development approach in future projects.
Epic Games has unveiled its latest version of the Epic Games Launcher, which integrates generative AI technology to enhance its performance as it aims to compete with Steam, the leading digital games marketplace on PC. This revamped launcher facilitates access to the Epic Games Store, personal game libraries, and various social features.
In an official tweet, Epic Games stated, “We vibe coded the Epic Games Launcher to be faster than the other guy,” sharing a graph that illustrates the improved boot-up time compared to Steam. They acknowledged potential bugs during this phase, inviting users to report any issues via the “Send Feedback” button in the launcher.
We vibe coded the Epic Games Launcher to be faster than the other guy.
Don’t believe us? Test it out for yourself in Preview:
https://t.co/aMxojUUVPV— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) October 14, 2026
A blog post released by Epic Games explained the rationale behind using generative AI, stating, “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.” They emphasized that the initial release is feature-light, comparing it to a speedboat rather than a yacht.
“Vibe coding” refers to the practice of generating or prompting code through generative AI. In a conversation with IGN, Martin Keely, the vice president and general manager of the Epic Games Store, noted that this trend is highly visible in the gaming industry, with many titles being rapidly recoded. He believes the practice has made development more efficient, enabling a smaller team to rewrite the code base and deploy it quicker across platforms.
This announcement comes shortly after a Bloomberg report revealed that Epic Games is embracing an “AI first” approach in its development processes. This intention is highlighted by the internal delays of a Marvel and Star Wars crossover shooter, with developers reportedly instructed to utilize no hand-written code moving forward, instead relying fully on AI-generated art and workflows.
CEO Tim Sweeney mentioned that this generative AI shift could extend to Unreal Engine, a widely utilized game development tool. He stated, “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.”
Despite its efforts, the Epic Games Store has consistently faced challenges in attracting players from Valve’s Steam platform. The effectiveness of its new AI-driven strategy remains to be seen.
News Courtesy of Eurogamer
