The Epic Video games Retailer wants a pick-me-up. Eight years in, the glorified Fortnite launcher is nice for getting free video games however has languished amid the corporate’s different priorities. A plan to overtake the storefront was revealed just a few months in the past and it was principally to make it extra like Steam. Now Epic Video games has revealed that enhancements may also be vibe-coded with AI.
“Programming is difficult,” the corporate wrote in its official announcement publish for a newly launched preview model of a revamped launcher for the shop. “So, as an alternative of doing that, we vibe coded a brand new Epic Video games Launcher that’s means sooner and extra responsive than the present one, and has a brand new look. This primary launch is gentle on options. Consider it as a speedboat and never a yacht! Although it does have superior digital commerce expertise resembling a purchasing cart.”
Sure, posting rage-bait seems to be a part of the technique right here. Only a week after forcing inner sport builders to go “AI first” and incorporate genAI even into their art work pipelines, Epic is embracing the tech publicly as properly teasing upcoming adjustments to the place the place it desires tens of millions of gamers to retailer their bank card data. The corporate even took pictures at Steam.
“We vibe coded the Epic Video games Launcher to be sooner than the opposite man,” the Epic X account posted. “Don’t consider us? Check it out for your self in Preview.” It was accompanied by a graphic displaying that the genAI storefront carried out sooner on sure responsiveness benchmarks than Valve’s competitor. This isn’t only a stunt or a flex for AI boosters on Elon Musk’s social media platform, although. The adults at Epic aren’t joking about desirous to make its storefront extra interesting.
Cracking job lads off to an awesome begin loving the ai work https://t.co/Hiu14KogCS pic.twitter.com/RtJDEQu3o3
— gold (@golden_aion) October 14, 2026
I might strongly advise eradicating all cost strategies linked to your EGS account in case you use one.
Them publicly saying the brand new replace was Vibe coded doesn’t give me confidence to maintain my card linked with it. https://t.co/RBCZTTnQ1U
— Pandan | GearGrit on Steam (@Weston_Mitchell) October 14, 2026
lmao. https://t.co/NLtkSSfEAj pic.twitter.com/DI5ghvlwaX
— James Tusha (@signalspikedev) October 14, 2026
First day of vibe coded Epic Video games Launcher and I switched Fortnite from Efficiency mode to DX12 and it opened UEFN https://t.co/D1vIlfPLJj
— Reisshub (@Reisshub) October 14, 2026
“It’s been rebuilt fully from the bottom up,” Epic Video games Retailer basic supervisor Martin Keely instructed IGN. “So this can be a fully new tech stack, an entire new rewrite of each the shell, which has the obtain supervisor, library, and the app itself, in addition to the brand new retailer structure. So options like uncover and product element pages, these have all been rewritten.”
However the impact on-line has been a wave of individuals roasting Epic’s “vibe-coded” framing of the rollout and the truth that the launcher seems borked in methods not normally seen for a product rollout customers are anticipated to take critically.
Epic additionally introduced that it’s bringing Fortnite to Linux through Proton, a compatibility layer made by, shock, Valve. “Daring of them to sh*t on Valve/Steam, after which actually use Proton internally for Home windows compat on Linux…,” one VR modder wrote on X. “This launcher is so fucking vibeslopped its humorous, however holy crap, these individuals are hilarious.” A Twitch streamer wrote within the feedback beneath Epic’s announcement, “Are you critically incapable of embarrassment? I’m not leaving Steam for this trash.”
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney confirmed this week that Epic is “retool[ing] for optimum AI acceleration.” “The intention isn’t to do the identical stuff with fewer folks, however to allow everybody right here to construct MORE and BETTER stuff, and to convey the advantages to all groups utilizing Unreal,” he added. The proof will probably be in what the corporate truly ships. Its Epic overhaul preview has but to move the check of “extra” or “higher.” “The brand new Epic Video games Launcher is in Preview for testing, and with any beta there may very well be points,” reads the disclaimer. Epic guarantees these issues received’t have an effect on gamers as soon as they really boot up their video games, most of which weren’t vibe-coded. At the least for now.