Epic's new game launcher preview claims faster performance and Linux support, with code generated by AI

Epic Games today opened a preview of its new PC game launcher, which the company says is "much faster," more responsive, and available on Linux for the first time. The preview is live on Windows, Mac, and Linux starting today, with the old launcher still usable. In a blog post, Epic said the refresh was "vibe coded" as the company pushes AI-assisted development. Martin Keely, VP and GM of Epic Games Store and Epic Online Services, told The Verge that AI was "very helpful" for testing and "replicating the core functionality of the existing launcher," which is what made bringing the new launcher to Linux possible. Keely stressed that the launcher team used Agents to write and review code but "managed the whole process" and "oversaw all the work," rather than adopting the "no longer hand-writing code" model reported by Bloomberg. The team's work predates CEO Tim Sweeney's "large-scale pivot" announced this week, though Keely said the two are "on the same train." Epic has not given a timeline for when users must migrate to the new version, saying it will officially launch once updates are "stable" and feature parity with the current launcher is reached where needed. For Linux players, this is the first native support for the platform from Epic's official launcher, and Epic also announced plans to bring Fortnite to Linux via the app. For Unreal Engine developers, Sweeney's reorganization this week means the company will reassign staff to "retool for maximum AI acceleration," which could change internal tooling and support cadence.