•The latest version of the Epic Game Launcher was built using generative AI, according to the company behind the platform that gives players access to the Epic Game Store, their game libraries and a range of social features.
“We vibe coded the Epic Game Launcher to be faster than the other guy,” Epic wrote on X alongside a graph comparing how quickly the new Epic Game Store (EGS) launcher boots compared with Steam. “Is this bad boy faster? Yes. Will it have some bugs? Yes. Do we want to hear about them? Hell yes.”
The company urged users reporting problems to use the ‘Send Feedback’ button in the launcher so it could address issues before its official release.
We vibe coded the Epic Game Launcher to be faster than the other guy.
Don’t believe us? Test it out for yourself in Preview:Epic (X)
A follow-up blog post attempted to justify the use of generative AI, writing: “Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Game Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. The first release is light on features. Think of it as a speedboat and not a yacht!”
Vibe coding is a colloquial term for code generated or prompted with generative AI.
Speaking to IGN, EGS vice president and general manager Martin Keely acknowledged the practice is “an issue that’s of high visibility” across the games industry at the moment, noting that countless games have been recompiled and decompiled in recent weeks by vibe coders. But he said it had “made us more efficient and allowed a small team to rewrite the code base and be able to launch it faster across platforms.”
This comes just a day after a Bloomberg report claimed Epic Game is fully embracing an “AI first” development pipeline, starting with a Marvel and Star Wars shooter that was internally delayed. Pengembangs were allegedly told that “no more hand-written code” should be used on the Disney crossover project from here on, and even art should be “generated with full AI workflows.”
In an online post, CEO Tim Sweeney also suggested the generative-AI pivot could extend to Unreal Engine, the widely-used development tool behind titles ranging from Gears of War: E-Day to Final Fantasy VII Revelation. He wrote that the aim isn’t “to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build more and better stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.
The Epic Game Store has long struggled to pull the vast majority of PC players away from Valve’s Steam platform. It remains to be seen whether a controversial AI-driven launch can change that.
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