Epic's New Game Launcher Built by AI, Claims Faster Than Steam

Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, just released a new version of its game launcher that was built using AI. They call it 'vibe coding' – essentially letting AI write and review code. The result? A launcher that starts up faster than Steam, according to Epic and early tests. For you, that means less waiting when you want to play a game. The new launcher also has a recent games list and a downloads hub, features players have wanted for years.

But there's a catch. This preview version is missing some social features and account options. Epic warns it will have bugs and is 'light on features.' So if you rely on those, you might want to wait. Still, the fact that a small team used AI to rebuild the launcher quickly and for multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, and soon Linux) is a big deal. It shows how AI can make software development faster and cheaper.

This move comes as Epic is going 'AI first' across the company, even for big game projects. CEO Tim Sweeney says the goal is to build more and better stuff, not to replace people. For you, this could mean more frequent updates and new features in the apps and games you use. But it also raises questions about quality control – will AI-written code be reliable? Only time will tell.