Epic Games has launched a public beta version of the Epic Games Launcher after rebuilding its codebase from scratch with the help of artificial intelligence tools, in an effort to make the application faster and more responsive than its current version and Steam. The Preview version is available to Windows and Mac users, while the company is working on a Linux release later.
Epic describes this approach as “vibe coding,” a term referring to using artificial intelligence to help write code and review features rather than reusing the old codebase. Martin Keely, general manager and vice president at Epic Games Store, said the team started from scratch, while attempting to reproduce the functionality of the previous launcher rather than copy its code.
Improved Startup Speed with Missing Features
Epic says the new launcher is faster and more responsive, and also confirms that using artificial intelligence helped a small team rewrite the codebase and launch it quickly across multiple platforms. Tests by Ars Technica showed that reaching the store page from a cold start was a few seconds faster than on Steam, excluding login or update issues.
The company also claims that restoring the launcher from the system tray to the library screen is slightly faster than on Steam, but the reported difference of 0.06 seconds was too small to be easily noticed during testing.
What Does the Preview Version Add?
The new version includes a list of recently played games and a unified downloads center that allows users to monitor network activity. However, it still lacks some social features and account-management options available in the old release, and Epic says it is working to achieve functional parity between the two versions.
The company explicitly warns that the Preview version will contain bugs and asks users to submit feedback to help fix them. Therefore, the version is not a complete replacement for the current launcher so much as a public test of a new architecture.
Why Does This Matter?
The importance of the move lies in the fact that it provides a practical example of using artificial intelligence to rebuild an existing application, rather than adding a single feature to it. However, the reported speed alone does not determine the project's success; the new launcher still lacks functions available in the previous release, and reliance on automated code generation makes testing, review, and bug handling critical factors before it can be considered ready for general use.
The move follows Epic's announcement in June of a reengineering of the store interface and a special version of Launcher V2, with a promise to improve cold-start time fivefold. It also coincides with a broader direction announced by CEO Tim Sweeney toward accelerating the use of artificial intelligence within the company's teams, while emphasizing that the goal is to enable employees to build more and better products, not merely to complete the same work with fewer developers.