Epic Games’ New “Vibe Coded” Launcher Is Now in Preview, Claims 1.8x Faster Startup Than Steam and Adds Linux Support

Key Points:

• Epic Games has released a preview of its new Epic Games Launcher, emphasizing significantly faster performance with a cold start time of 5.47 seconds, nearly twice as fast as Steam, and a library loading speed claimed to be 30 times faster.
• The new launcher introduces features such as dedicated game pages, connected libraries for viewing all owned games in one place, enhanced customization options, faster search with filters, a comprehensive download manager, and integrated social features like parties and voice chat.
• Some features from the current launcher, including certain social and account management functions, are not yet available, and Epic advises competitive players and developers to continue using the existing launcher during the preview phase.
• For the first time, the Epic Games Launcher preview supports Linux natively (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS+, Fedora 43+, Debian 12+), alongside Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon only), although many games remain Windows-only and may require compatibility layers.
• Epic is working on bringing Fortnite to Linux by rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat and collaborating with Linux distro maintainers, aiming to expand Linux game compatibility and offer these improvements to other developers in the future.