Epic Games has quietly overhauled one of the most criticized pieces of software in PC gaming: its own launcher. The company has opened up a preview version of a completely rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, written from scratch using AI and "vibe coding" techniques — in other words, much of the new client's code was generated with heavy AI assistance.

Speed isn't the only headline here. The new version also brings long-requested Linux support, and Epic says Fortnite is expected to arrive on Linux soon as well. The preview launcher is available to download via the official link.

The speed claims: taking on Steam

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Performance is the core focus of the rebuild. According to Epic, the app cold-starts in 5.47 seconds, which the company says is 46% faster than Steam.

Reopening the app in the background has improved by 14%, down to 0.36 seconds. Loading the game library is a full 30 times faster than in the old version. The app weighs in at roughly 300 MB and has been designed to run smoothly even on lower-spec hardware.

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What else is new?

The new release also includes lower resource usage in the background, smoother transitions between the store and library tabs, built-in voice chat support, refreshed library filters, a customizable look, and more detailed data on download speeds.