Ever since the announcement that it would be laying off 1,000 workers, Epic Games has been working overtime to pull users away from its largest competitor, Steam. Following the news that Epic had figured out how to get Easy Anti-Cheat working on Linux to the same standard as its kernel-level implementation on Windows, Epic announced a new version of the Epic Games Launcher with some notable performance claims.
By Epic's own admission, and in line with its latest proclamation of being an AI-first company with "no handwritten code," the new Launcher is vibe coded. Even so, Epic claims it launches up to 46% faster than Steam, at 5.47 seconds versus 10.07 seconds, and restores from the system tray 14% faster, at 0.36 seconds versus 0.42 seconds. The test results are an "average of 5 tests on each of 13 machines, excluding the 3 lowest-end machines tested," and were conducted by Keywords Studio, an independent game studio contracted by Epic.
The new Launcher is available as a preview and is admittedly still in testing, so bugs are possible. Epic has made no other performance claims, but it promises an updated UI for game search and filtering, a customizable library and top bar, and lower system resource usage when running in the background. It also aims to act as a unified PC library, letting users connect their PC libraries and see everything they own in one place, similar to how Steam supports adding external programs and games.
Epic encourages users to try the new Launcher, but its FAQ notes that it has not yet reached feature parity with the mainline version. The company says it is working toward that goal.
Source: TechPowerUp News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing