The new Epic Games Launcher might not suck so much thanks to ‘ground-up’ rebuild with 5–6.5x improved performance—still a long way to catch up with Steam
The Epic Games Launcher is undergoing a complete redesign focused on addressing widespread performance problems. According to Epic Games, which presented its plans at Unreal Fest, the “ground-up rebuild” will deliver significant speed improvements: the company claims a 5x faster cold start time on average and 6.5x faster system tray restoration to the library. These enhancements target two of the most frustrating user experience bottlenecks—boot-up sluggishness and slow responsiveness when launching from the system tray.
Epic’s acknowledgment that “every player we have experiences challenges with the current launcher” underscores the scope of dissatisfaction with the platform. The rebuild represents a major effort to address long-standing criticisms and improve overall usability. As part of a broader 12-month overhaul, the company is also planning storefront rearchitecture and has begun rolling out a private beta version of the redesigned launcher.
While these claimed performance gains are substantial, the Epic Games Launcher will still have considerable ground to make up compared to Steam, which remains the dominant digital PC game platform.