Epic Games announced a major refresh of its PC games launcher in preview on Wednesday, saying the new version is "way faster," more responsive and now supports Linux. The catch: the company says the refresh was "vibe coded," a nod to its growing push into AI-assisted development.
The new Epic Games Launcher preview is available starting today on Windows, Mac and Linux, while the old version remains available. Epic also says it plans to bring Fortnite to Linux through the app. There is no timeline yet for when all users will be moved to the new version.
Epic Games Launcher specs and AI coding approach
Epic frames the launcher as a showcase for AI-assisted work rather than a straight replacement. Martin Keely, Epic's VP and GM of the Epic Games Store and Epic Online Services, told The Verge that AI was used as a tool, calling it "part of our migration as a company to use AI in new and different ways." He said AI was "super helpful" for testing and for replicating the core functionality of the existing launcher.
Keely said the launcher has been in the works for most of this year, and that AI helped Epic accelerate development. But he stressed the team did not adopt the "no more hand-written code" model reported by Bloomberg; instead, agents wrote and reviewed all the code under human supervision. "We definitely had agents write and review all of the code," he said.
- Faster and more responsive than the current launcher, per Epic
- New look alongside the performance changes
- Available in preview on Windows, Mac and Linux starting today
