Epic’s new games launcher is ‘vibe coded’

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Epic is making a big push into AI-assisted development, and that approach includes its work on the new, faster launcher.

Epic is making a big push into AI-assisted development, and that approach includes its work on the new, faster launcher.

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Epic Games is announcing a big refresh of its PC games launcher today in preview, saying that the new version is “way faster” and now supports Linux. But the company, which has been publicly making a big push into AI-assisted development, also notes that the refresh was “vibe coded.”

“Programming is hard,” Epic says in a blog post. “So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look.”

On Monday, CEO Tim Sweeney announced that the company has a “huge pivot underway,” where it will be “moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.” Sweeney said the aim “isn’t to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.” Bloomberg also reported this week that an Epic director on an unannounced Disney title told staffers that there would be “No more hand-written code.”

“We used AI as a tool for this,” Martin Keely, Epic’s VP and GM of the Epic Games Store and Epic Online Services, tells The Verge in a briefing about the launcher. “It’s part of our migration as a company to use AI in new and different ways.” Keely says that AI has been “super helpful” for testing and for “replicating the core functionality from the existing launcher,” and he also notes that it’s also allowing Epic to offer the new launcher on Linux.