Epic's rebuilt launcher arrives in preview with Linux support and AI-written code

A faster launcher, now on Linux

Epic Games has shipped a rebuilt version of its PC games launcher in preview, and for the first time the app runs on Linux alongside Windows and Mac. According to The Verge, Epic describes the new launcher as far faster and more responsive than the current one, with a refreshed look. The existing launcher will remain available, and Epic says it will only move everyone over once the new version feels stable and reaches feature parity in all the places it needs to.

Martin Keely, Epic's VP and GM of the Epic Games Store and Epic Online Services, told The Verge the company had been working on the refresh for most of this year.

Vibe coded

The detail drawing the most attention is how it was built. Epic says the launcher was "vibe coded" — its blog post jokes that "Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher."

Keely was quick to frame AI as a tool rather than a replacement for engineers: "We definitely had agents write and review all of the code," he said, but the development team "managed that process" and "supervised the entirety of what we did." He said AI was particularly useful for testing and for replicating the core functionality of the old launcher — and that it is what made a Linux version possible.

The launch sits inside a broader company shift. On Monday, CEO Tim Sweeney described a "huge pivot underway" at Epic to "retool for maximum AI acceleration," saying the goal is to let teams build more and better things rather than shrink headcount. Bloomberg also reported this week that a director on an unannounced Disney title told staff there would be "No more hand-written code." Keely said the launcher team's approach predates that announcement but is "on the same train," and that the launcher demonstrates the speed and efficiency Epic hopes to achieve.

The timing is awkward given that Epic laid off more than 1,000 staffers in March. Sweeney said in a memo at the time that the layoffs were not related to AI, and that improved productivity should mean more developers, not fewer.

Fortnite on Linux, eventually

The Linux launcher does not include Fortnite yet, but Epic wants that to change. Cheating concerns have historically kept the game off the platform: while Epic's Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) service does support Linux, Fortnite itself does not. In February 2022, Sweeney said Epic lacked confidence it could combat cheating at scale across a wide array of kernel configurations.

Now, according to The Verge, Epic says it is rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat for Linux — dubbed EAC Linux v2 — and working with distribution maintainers on security requirements. The new anti-cheat will pilot in Fortnite first, and Epic plans to make the improvements available to other developers so they can bring their games to Linux players too. Engineering director Rick Deist told The Verge there is no timeline yet for when Fortnite might actually arrive on Linux.

Epic is also investigating compatibility with Valve's Linux-based SteamOS, though it has no plans to sell Fortnite on the Steam store. The Steam Deck currently does not support the features EAC v2 requires, but Epic says it is actively talking with Valve and hopes to support the handheld in the future.

Why it matters

This is one of the highest-profile shipped consumer applications to be openly described as vibe coded, and Epic is deliberately presenting it as evidence that AI-assisted development can produce faster, better software at scale. If the launcher holds up in practice, it becomes a data point in the industry-wide argument over AI-generated code — and a preview of how far Epic intends to push its "maximum AI acceleration" pivot across Unreal and its other products.

The Linux angle matters independently of the AI story. A major storefront shipping an official Linux client, paired with a rebuilt anti-cheat that will be shared with other developers, could meaningfully expand the catalog of games that run natively on Linux desktops — with Fortnite as the eventual flagship. Steam Deck support remains an open question, but the fact that Epic and Valve are talking at all is a shift from a few years ago.