Epic Games is undertaking a substantial overhaul of its PC storefront, aiming to address performance issues and introduce a more user-friendly experience. New details emerging from Unreal Fest indicate a complete "ground-up rebuild" of the Epic Games Launcher, promising significant improvements in speed and functionality.
According to slides shared from the event, the redesigned launcher is expected to achieve "5x faster cold start (average)" and "6.5x faster systray restore to library (average)." These figures suggest a major leap in responsiveness for users, particularly those with extensive game libraries, a common point of criticism for the platform. Past user experiences have highlighted sluggishness and less intuitive navigation compared to competitors.
Beyond performance enhancements, the redesign incorporates several new features aimed at improving user engagement and discovery. The homepage will feature personalized game recommendations. Browsing will be streamlined with quick-access categories presented on a single page. Product detail pages are also being tailored to individual players, designed to connect them with a game's community, story, and their own progression. Additionally, patch notes will be directly available on a game's storefront page.
Further enhancements are planned to foster community interaction, including the testing of community forums for top games, player profiles with avatars, private messaging, voice chat, and game-independent party systems. Epic is also planning cross-region game gifting, publisher-funded coupons, and a tool to assess how games will perform on a user's system.
Many of these planned features draw parallels to the functionality offered by Valve's Steam platform, a design approach that has proven popular with PC gamers. The goal appears to be creating a more robust and intuitive digital storefront that keeps pace with industry standards and user expectations.