Epic Games releases vibe coded launcher preview with Linux support

Epic Games has released a preview of a redesigned launcher that the company calls vibe coded. CEO Tim Sweeney describes this as part of a pivot toward AI acceleration. The company says it avoided handwritten code to build the client.

Epic claims the new launcher is faster than Steam. Data from Keywords Studio, a contractor for Epic, says the launcher starts in 5.47 seconds compared to 10.07 seconds for Steam. The study averaged five tests across 13 machines but excluded the three lowest-end systems. Epic also claims the library loads 30x faster, the store opens 3x faster, and restoring from the system tray takes 0.36 seconds versus 0.42 seconds for Steam.

The preview adds native Linux support for Debian 12, Fedora 43, and Ubuntu 22.04 or newer. Epic rebuilt Easy Anti-Cheat to bring Fortnite to Linux once it reaches a critical mass of distro maintainers. On macOS, the preview only supports Apple Silicon.

The client is currently light on features. Some account management and social tools are missing. Epic suggests that developers and competitive players of Rocket League and Fortnite continue using the old launcher for now.