Epic Games Ships "Vibe-Coded" Launcher Preview: 46% Faster Than Steam

For years, PC gamers have criticized the Epic Games Store desktop client for sluggish startup times, heavy RAM consumption, and zero native support for Linux and SteamOS handhelds. This week, Epic Games quietly flipped the script by rolling out the Epic Games Launcher Preview—a ground-up overhaul for Windows 10/11, macOS, and native Linux that Epic claims loads to the storefront 46% faster than Valve’s Steam client.

Epic Games vibe-coded launcher preview 46 percent faster than Steam with native Linux support

Even more surprising than the performance leap is how Epic built it: engineering leads confirmed that large portions of the new architecture were accelerated using AI-assisted “vibe coding” under senior engineer supervision.

Inside the Benchmarks: 0.36-Second Tray Restore & 30x Faster Internal Loads

To validate the performance claims, Epic contracted independent testing firm Keywords Studios to benchmark the new Preview client against both the legacy Epic Games Launcher and the current Steam desktop app on identical Windows 11 hardware.

Metric Tested (Keywords Studios Lab)	Legacy Epic Launcher	Steam Client (Oct 2026)	New Epic Launcher Preview
Cold Boot to Storefront Ready	Baseline (1x)	Fast	46% Faster than Steam
Internal UI & Library Navigation	1x (Heavy CEF lag)	Instant	Up to 30x Faster than old EGS
Restore from Windows System Tray	2.8 – 4.5 seconds	~0.8 seconds	0.36 Seconds
Native OS Support	Windows, macOS	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Native Linux

According to Epic Games Engineering Director Martin Keely, stripping out legacy Chromium bloat and refactoring the local caching layer allowed the client to wake from the Windows system tray in just 360 milliseconds.

What “Vibe Coding” Means for Epic—And Why the Disney Shooter Was Delayed

The release of the new launcher coincides with an aggressive internal push toward AI-assisted software development across Epic Games. Reports indicate Epic recently mandated an “AI-First” workflow utilizing Anthropic’s Claude models to speed up boilerplate UI code, automated testing, and cross-platform porting—a strategy that allowed a small team to ship the native Linux build of the Epic Launcher ahead of schedule.

However, the transition hasn’t been seamless across every department. Separate internal reports revealed this week that Epic’s highly anticipated Disney (Marvel × Star Wars) multiplayer shooter—originally targeted for an early spring window—has been delayed as gameplay teams restructure pipelines around the new tooling.

Want your existing Windows 11 apps and game launchers to open instantaneously too? Check out our tested guide on boosting Windows 11 App Launch Speed and check how much frame time your background launchers cost using our MS to FPS Frame Time Calculator.

Axee Davies

Axee Davies is the founder of AxeeTech, publishing gaming guides, codes, and Windows how-tos since March 2013. A tech enthusiast for 13+ years — starting with smartphones and Android rooting — he now runs a site that puts out a new guide every day for Roblox players, traders, and Windows users. More about AxeeTech

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