Epic has pushed out a preview build of a completely rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, and you can download it right now. It’s an early version, so Epic itself describes it as “light on features” in its announcement post – but the foundations are all new.
A new tech stack, not a facelift
“It’s been rebuilt entirely from the ground up,” said Martin Keely, vice president and general manager of Epic Games Store. According to him, both the shell – which covers the download manager, the library and the app itself – and the store architecture are brand new code. Pages like discover and product detail were rewritten too.
The preview ships with the core pieces you’d expect: store, library, social panels and the Unreal-focused developer page. Anything beyond that is still on the way.
Speed is the headline
Phase one of the rebuild was all about performance, and Epic isn’t shy with the numbers:
- Cold boot in 5.47 seconds, which Epic claims is 46% faster than Steam.
- Reopening from the system tray in 0.36 seconds, 14% faster than Steam.
- A library that loads 30 times faster than in the old launcher.
- Startup twice as fast as before, with a footprint of just 300MB.
Keely said the small install size was deliberate, so the app runs well across the wide range of hardware players actually own. Your own results will obviously depend on your machine, but the direction is clear: the new client is meant to feel light instead of sluggish.
Linux support – and what it means for Fortnite
The new launcher supports Windows, macOS and, for the first time, Linux. That opens the door for Fortnite on Linux as well, though not yet: Epic first has to rebuild Easy Anti-Cheat for the platform, work it outlined in a separate Easy Anti-Cheat update. “Once it’s working with a critical mass of distro maintainers, we’ll bring Fortnite to Linux via the Epic Games Launcher,” Epic wrote.
Quality-of-life tweaks
Beyond raw speed, the preview adds customization options players have been asking about for years. The new top bar can be reordered so your preferred tabs sit where you want them, and the library can be filtered by a range of categories.
What comes next
Keely said the next big focus is game discovery tailored to each player. “We have a pretty large library and sometimes there’s great games that will be relevant for someone,” he explained, adding that Epic wants to make discovery more social so players can recommend games to each other and share them easily.
Worth noting: Epic built this launcher using AI and “vibe coding.” That approach lines up with the company’s wider direction, which we covered in our piece on Epic’s AI-first shooter. Epic had already teased the rebuild earlier this year, when it promised boot times five times faster than the old client.
Where to next
If you want more from Epic’s ecosystem, we also wrote about a free Epic Games Store giveaway, and the rest of our coverage lives in our gaming articles hub.
FAQ
Yes. Epic has released a preview version that’s available to download now, though it’s still early in development and light on features.
Epic claims a cold boot of 5.47 seconds, which it says is 46% faster than Steam, and a 0.36-second wake from the system tray, 14% faster than Steam. Real-world results will vary with your hardware.
Yes, the new launcher supports Windows, macOS and Linux – the first time Linux has been covered.
Not yet. Epic needs to rebuild Easy Anti-Cheat for Linux first and says Fortnite will arrive via the Epic Games Launcher once it works with a critical mass of distro maintainers.
The core components: store, library, social panels and the Unreal-focused developer page, plus customizable top-bar tabs and library filters.