Epic Games is leaning further into generative artificial intelligence, announcing that its newly rebuilt Epic Games Launcher was developed using AI in an apparent bid to outperform Steam. The company behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine stated that the launcher was "vibe-coded" to be faster than its main competitor in the digital PC game marketplace.
Epic Games shared a graph on social media comparing the boot times of the new Epic Games Launcher to Steam, with the launcher purportedly demonstrating superior speed. The company acknowledged that this AI-generated approach may result in initial bugs, encouraging users to report issues via a feedback button to aid in the development process. "Will it have some bugs? Yes. Do we want to hear about them? Hell yes," Epic stated.
A subsequent blog post elaborated on the use of generative AI, suggesting it allowed a small team to expedite the rewrite of the codebase and achieve faster cross-platform releases. Epic described the new launcher as a "speedboat and not a yacht," implying a focus on speed and responsiveness over a feature-rich initial release. This approach, termed "vibe coding," refers to code generated or prompted using AI tools.
This move follows a Bloomberg report indicating Epic Games is adopting an "AI first" development strategy across its projects. The report claimed that developers were instructed to minimize handwritten code for an upcoming Marvel and Star Wars shooter, with even art assets to be produced using AI workflows. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney also suggested that generative AI could be integrated into Unreal Engine, aiming to empower developers to create more and better content.
The Epic Games Store has historically sought to capture a larger share of the PC gaming market from Valve's Steam. The integration of AI into its launcher and development pipeline signals a significant strategic shift as Epic aims to challenge Steam's dominance.