Epic Games Store New Launcher Is Finally Available in Preview

Epic Games has released the first public Preview of its completely rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, promising substantially faster startup times, a redesigned library and lower background overhead.

The overhaul has been a long time coming. Epic’s launcher has frequently drawn complaints over sluggish navigation and a comparatively basic feature set, and the company is now treating the Preview as a new foundation rather than another incremental update.

According to Epic’s own benchmarks, the new launcher reaches the Store from a cold start in 5.47 seconds, compared with 10.07 seconds for Steam. That works out to roughly 46% faster. Returning from the background to the library takes 0.36 seconds against Steam’s 0.42 seconds.

Epic Rebuilt the Launcher With ‘Vibe Coding’

The more unusual part of the announcement is how openly Epic is discussing the role of generative AI. “Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher,” the company claimed in its official announcement.

Behind the statement is a genuine development shift. Epic Games Store general manager Martin Keely told PC Gamer that the team started again with an entirely new architecture and technology stack, using AI tools to write and review new features and functionality rather than simply analysing the old launcher.

That aligns closely with Epic’s wider push towards AI-assisted development, which CEO Tim Sweeney recently described as a company-wide move towards “maximum AI acceleration”.

Calling the launcher “vibe coded” has inevitably attracted scepticism online, particularly because the software handles game libraries, purchases and account information. Large Reddit discussions have mocked the phrasing while questioning whether AI-generated code introduces reliability or security concerns, although those concerns remain speculative until the Preview receives more extensive real-world testing.

The Preview Is Faster, but It Is Not Finished

The new launcher also introduces a redesigned library, searchable collections, dedicated game pages, improved download monitoring and the ability to display shortcuts for games installed through other PC clients.

For the first time, there is also an official Linux version, alongside Windows and Apple Silicon Macs. Epic is separately rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat support with the aim of eventually bringing Fortnite to Linux as well.

There is an important catch: the Preview is deliberately feature-incomplete. Epic warns that some functionality from the existing launcher is missing and bugs should be expected while development continues. Installing it also replaces the legacy launcher, although users can uninstall the Preview and return to the older client if necessary. Players can download the Preview through the new Epic Games Launcher site.

Whether it can actually change long-standing opinions about the Epic Games Store will take more than a startup benchmark. But after years of complaints about its launcher, Epic has at least rebuilt the thing people have been asking it to fix, even if describing the result as “vibe coded” has given everyone something entirely new to argue about.