Epic is improving its game launcher with an overdue speed boost and plenty of new features
Epic Games has spent years trying to make the Epic Games Store a serious competitor to Steam. It offered free games, signed exclusive deals, and kept big PC releases like Borderlands 3, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria away from Valve’s storefront at launch. Those moves helped Epic build an audience, but they weren’t enough to seriously threaten Steam’s position as the default PC gaming platform.
One problem has been the launcher itself. Earlier this year, an Epic executive admitted to Eurogamer that the launcher was “sucking,” and the company now appears to be working on a major overhaul. According to slides from the Unreal Fest presentation shared by LuKaOnIndeed on X, Epic is developing Launcher V2, a redesign of the Epic Games Store that should be faster and easier to use.
The company reportedly told developers that Launcher V2 will be five times faster during cold start and 6.5 times faster when it is restored to the system tray. That would be a huge improvement for software that has long been criticized for feeling slow, sluggish, and far behind Steam in day-to-day use.
Fast launcher is the main fix
The Epic Games Store launcher has developed a reputation for feeling slow, heavy, and clumsy compared to Steam, so skipping the promised performance goes directly to one of its most obvious weaknesses. LuKaOnIndeed also said on the X thread that Epic has confirmed that faster game download speeds are coming in the future, which will address another common complaint from PC players.
There may also be a major technical change under the hood. LuKaOnIndeed said the new Epic Games Store “will no longer be built on Unreal Engine,” adding that Epic “realized how bad the idea was.” If accurate, that would help explain why Epic is describing this as a deep rebuild rather than a simple visual refresh.
Epic has yet to announce a public release date. The roadmap shown during the presentation points to a private beta first, followed by a wider release later.
The store is getting long-requested features
Epic isn’t just about speed. The roadmap also mentions store patch notes, player reviews, quick access sections, and a personalized home page. LuKaOnIndeed’s post also identified player profiles with banners, bios, achievements, favorite games, recently played games, and career status.
Standard controller support also appears on the list, as well as a deeper relationship with Fortnite. These additions may not close the gap with Steam overnight, but they could help the Epic Games Store feel like a polished gaming hub instead of a basic storefront.
