•Epic Hry has released a preview version of its redesigned Epic Hry Launcher, which the company says was built using “vibe coding” — an approach that leans on generative AI to produce code. The announcement comes days after reports surfaced about an “AI-first” production model being imposed on developers working on a new Disney shooter.
“Programming is hard,” read Epic’s official announcement post, which framed the effort with nautical humour aimed at rival Steam. “So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Hry Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. This first release is light on features. Think of it as a speedboat and not a yacht! Though it does have advanced digital commerce technology such as a shopping cart.”
The company’s social media posts echoed the same tone. No specifics were given about exactly how generative AI was used to assemble the launcher.
“We vibe coded the Epic Hry Launcher to be faster than the other guy,” the store’s tweet read, inviting users to test it in Preview.
https://t.co/pdtAeEIri4
pic.twitter.com/aMxojUUVPV
— Epic Hry Store (@EpicGames) October 14, 2026
The new launcher is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Epic says it features faster load times and puts “less load on your system while it runs in the background,” with improved ways to find games and information about them, plus customisation options so users can place items where they want.
“It’s been rebuilt entirely from the ground up,” Epic Hry Store general manager Martin Keely told IGN. “So 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. So features like discover and product detail pages, those have all been rewritten.”
The use of vibe coding at Epic was hardly unexpected. CEO Tim Sweeney — who oversees a company that fired over 1000 staff earlier this year — declared that Epic are pursuing “maximum AI acceleration” this week. He later thanked what appears to be an AI bot Twitter account roleplaying as a duck for agreeing with him on the AI push.
imposing an “AI-first” production model
imposing an “AI-first” production model
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