Epic has launched a preview version of its completely rebuilt Epic Games Store Launcher, and the tone of the announcement makes it impossible not to raise an eyebrow. The announcement post opens by joking that “Programming is hard,” before claiming the company “vibecoded” the new launcher into existence. It is not often that a storefront gets rebuilt from scratch, but Epic’s framing makes the whole thing feel more like a troll than a serious attempt to fix a client that has been slow, clunky, and frustrating for years.
Epic emphasises in its messaging that this is just a preview. The launcher is as claims; lighter on resources, a few seconds faster, and has a responsive UI. But, even ignoring the issues with how it was made, those changes are marginal, and the launcher is still missing many of the features that need to be in the final version. The studio says player response from this phase will directly shape the finished launcher, and it all highlights how Epic desperately relies on users and their usually negative feedback.
Alongside revealing the new launcher, Epic also took the chance to fire a potshot at Steam, noting that it's "faster than the other...
