Epic Games claims its rebuilt launcher, now in preview beta, reaches the store page from a cold start 46% faster than Steam. Restore it from the system tray and it still wins, loading the library 14% faster than Valve's client, according to Epic's own figures.

The numbers get sharper from there. Epic Games Store VP and general manager Martin Keely told IGN: "The library loads 30 times faster [than in the previous launcher]. The startup is twice as fast. And it's a small footprint, only 300mb. That was another thing that we wanted to continue to make as small as possible to support the wide range of hardware that players have."

For studios and developers watching storefront economics, a faster client is not cosmetic. Load times and install footprint shape store conversion, and a 300 MB client broadens the addressable hardware base, particularly in markets where low-spec machines dominate.

What was actually rebuilt?

Everything, according to Keely. "It's been rebuilt entirely from the ground up," he said. The rewrite covers the shell, which houses the download manager, the library, and the app itself, plus a new store architecture behind features like discovery and product detail pages.

The blog post describing the work uses a specific label: the launcher is "vibe coded," a term for coding with AI assistance. Keely was careful about how far that goes. AI was "used as a tool as part of [its] development process," he told IGN.

"It's obviously an issue that's of high visibility at the moment across the industry, but for us, it made us more efficient and allowed a small team to rewrite the code base and be able to launch it faster across platforms, support Windows and Mac, and we're going to have a Linux version as well," Keely said.

The AI work had boundaries. "It's been focused on code efficiency and the architecture, and allowing us to basically build features more quickly," Keely explained. "It hasn't been about the artwork or the design style. There are some updates and changes, but that's been managed by our normal Epic Games design group."

So what does this change for teams building on Epic's ecosystem? It's a working proof that a small group can ship a cross-platform client rewrite faster by leaning on AI for code and architecture, while keeping human designers on visual work. That division of labor may become a template.

The 'AI-first' backdrop

The launcher betas against a larger shift inside Epic. The company is moving toward an "AI-first" production model, according to reports, and that shift has already delayed one major project: Epic's upcoming Disney collaboration, a shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters.

An internal message seen by Bloomberg captured the directive bluntly. One of the game's directors told staff: "No more hand-written code." The same message said all of the game's art would be "generated with full AI workflows."

Epic communications director Jake Jones framed the strategy in a statement: the firm is "embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do."

CEO Tim Sweeney addressed headcount anxieties directly on social media. "We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration," he wrote. "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."

That last clause matters beyond Epic's walls. Unreal Engine licensees stand to inherit whatever AI-accelerated tooling Epic builds for itself, which could compress production timelines across the industry rather than inside one company.

Why the benchmarks carry an asterisk

Epic's 46% and 14% claims are self-reported, measured against a competitor's client that Epic doesn't control. Steam's performance profile varies with library size, hardware, and update cadence, so third-party benchmarks of the shipping launcher will be the real test once the beta leaves preview.

For now, the preview is live on Windows and Mac, with a Linux version promised. Watch whether the full release holds those speed claims, and whether the delayed Disney shooter surfaces with the AI-generated pipeline its directors described.