Epic throws shade at Steam and admits to coding Epic Games’ new launcher with AI “to be faster than the others”
Epic Games is not taking its foot off the gen-AI pedal. The company behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine has now coded a new Epic Games launcher in a bid to overtake Steam, by far the most popular PC digital gaming marketplace.
Epic Games Launcher is the platform that gives players access to the Epic Games Store, their game libraries, and a host of social features – and the latest version of the app came to life through the use of generative AI, according to the company.
“We coded the Epic Games launcher to be faster than the other guy,” Epic tweeted alongside a graph (below) comparing the startup speed of the EGS launcher versus Steam (five seconds!).
We coded the Epic Games launcher to be faster than the other guy. You don’t believe us? Test it for yourself in Preview: https://t.co/pdtAeEIri4 https://t.co/aMxojUUVPV
– Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) October 14, 2026
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A follow-up blog post attempts to justify the use of AI generation: “Programming is hard. So instead of doing that, we coded a new Epic Games launcher that is much faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. The first version is light on features. Think of it as a speedboat, not a yacht! (Do I see more Valve shade?)
Vibrational coding is a colloquial term often used to refer to code generated or requested with gen-AI. Speaking to IGN, EGS VP and GM Martin Keely acknowledged that it’s a “very visible problem” in the games industry right now – countless games have been recompiled and decompiled in recent weeks by vibe coders – but Keely believes it “made us more efficient and allowed a small team to rewrite the code base and be able to launch it more quickly on all platforms.”
This comes just a day after a report from Bloomberg claimed that Epic Games was fully embracing an “AI first” development pipeline, starting with a Marvel and Star Wars shooter that was delayed internally. Developers were reportedly told that from now on, “no more hand-written code” should be used when making the Disney crossover project, and that even artwork should be “generated with full AI workflows.”
In an online post, CEO Tim Sweeney also suggested that the AI generation pivot could seep into Unreal Engine, the widely used game development tool behind everything from Gears of War: E-Day to Final Fantasy 7 Revelation: “The goal is not to do the same thing with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to create more and better, and bring benefits to all teams using Unreal.”
The Epic Games Store has long struggled to keep the vast majority of PC gamers away from Valve’s Steam platform. We’ll see if a controversial AI can shake things up one way or another.
Gn tech
