Epic Games has released a Preview version of a rebuilt Epic Games Launcher and openly says the team vibe coded it with AI because programming is hard. The company claims the new client is faster and more responsive than both the old launcher and Steam, yet it has already drawn complaints from users on X who call it unfinished and buggy.
Epic's own tests, run by Keywords Studios, put the new launcher at an average 5.47 seconds from cold start to the store page versus 10.07 seconds for Steam. That works out to roughly 46 percent or 1.8 times faster on the machines they measured. The company also says the library loads much quicker and that the app uses less resources while sitting in the background. The Preview is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Epic describes the first release as light on features and compares it to a speedboat rather than a yacht.
Users Report Crashes and Rough Edges
Despite the speed claims, players testing the Preview have posted a steady stream of complaints on X. Multiple users say the app crashes during normal use, library scrolling feels janky, and game detail pages load slowly. Others note high memory usage and missing or broken tabs, including the Fab section. Some reports describe the experience as still rough even though startup is quicker.
Epic has not hidden the issues. In its announcement the company wrote that the launcher will have some bugs and asked people to use the Send Feedback button so the team can fix problems before a full release. That warning has not stopped the criticism. A number of replies argue that startup speed was never the main complaint about the old Epic Games Launcher. Users have long focused on reliability, download problems, and overall polish instead.
Speed Alone May Not Be Enough
The vibe coding admission has also drawn mixed reactions. Some see it as a practical way for a small team to rebuild the client faster. Others question whether AI-generated code will make long-term fixes harder. For now the Preview is optional and the classic launcher remains available. Epic is collecting feedback while it continues development, but early user reports show that raw speed has not erased the bugs that have followed the Epic Games Launcher for years.