"We Vibe Coded a New Epic Games Launcher": Apparently, "Programming Is Hard"

Epic Games presented the new version of its store's launcher, proudly admitting that it was created by AI: "Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher."

Now that's not a sentence one might expect to hear from a game engine developer company, and internet users were not gentle with their feedback. This move is not that surprising, though: Epic began the full adoption of AI not so long ago and even reportedly announced a "no more hand-written code" policy.

The EGS launcher will be improved over time, but the first upgrade is its speed: Epic cheekily announced that it is "faster than the other guy," meaning, of course, its main competitor, Steam.

According to the company's tests, the new EGS launcher starts in 5.47 seconds, while Steam takes 10.07 seconds.

Very nice, except Steam has also just released an update that improves its startup performance, and one user measured 5.23 seconds on Steam, which makes it the leader in this bizarre race once again. 

But I have to say that my Steam takes a long while to boot on both Windows and macOS, and I'm not alone, so I can't say for sure that it's a Steam win.

As many players point out, speed is hardly the reason Steam is more popular than EGS. But Epic introduced other features, like "snappier" navigation between the library and the store, less load on your system, and an improved library and download experience.

Steam, in turn, offers a new 'Big Art Mode' option for the home screen, Personal Calendar in the Recommended tab, improved layouts, and bug fixes.

The new version of the Epic Games Launcher is available in Preview for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

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