By The new Epic Games Launcher is rebuilt from the ground up for speed. (Credits: Epic Games)
Epic Games has finally answered years of complaints about its sluggish PC app. The company has released a preview version of a completely rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, promising a dramatically faster experience — including a game library that loads 30 times faster than the old one.
The new launcher was built using AI and “vibe coding”, according to Epic, and is available to download now. It is currently in the early stages of development and described as “light on features”, but the core pieces are there: store, library and social panels, plus the Unreal-focused developer page.
Rebuilt From the Ground Up
“It’s been rebuilt entirely from the ground up,” said Martin Keely, vice president and general manager of Epic Games Store, in an interview with IGN. “This is a completely new tech stack, a complete new rewrite of both the shell, which has the download manager, library, and the app itself, as well as the new store architecture.”
Everything from the discover page to product detail pages has been rewritten, Keely said. For this first phase, the entire focus has been on speed — and Epic is not shy about comparing itself to Valve’s Steam.
The Numbers: Faster Than Steam?
Epic claims the new launcher boots from cold in 5.47 seconds, which it says is 46% faster than Steam. Re-opening from the system tray takes just 0.36 seconds — 14% faster than Steam. Your mileage will vary depending on your PC, but on paper, the new app leaves its sluggish predecessor in the dust.
Keely added: “The library loads 30 times faster [than in the previous launcher]. The startup is twice as fast. And it’s a small footprint, only 300mb.” Keeping the app lightweight, he said, was deliberate — Epic wants the launcher to run well across the huge range of hardware its players use.
For a storefront long mocked for its slow load times, this overhaul is overdue. The preview is out now for anyone who wants to try the faster future of the Epic Games Store.
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Source: IGN — read the full story there.
