Epic Games has confirmed it is rebuilding the Epic Games Store launcher, and the company is not pretending the current version is fine. During Unreal Fest, Epic outlined a 12-month roadmap for Launcher V2, starting with a private beta and storefront rearchitecture, followed by a public release and broader platform upgrades later on.
The headline claim is speed. Epic says the redesigned launcher is targeting a cold start that is five times faster on average, while restoring the library from the system tray could be 6.5 times faster, at least according to the roadmap slides shown at the event. That is the kind of change players will notice long before they care about whatever buzzword got used in the slide deck.
The more interesting part is the feature list, because it reads like Epic spent a few years watching Steam and finally decided to take notes. Planned additions include in-store patch notes, cross-region gifting, chunked installation for Fortnite, player profiles, avatars, user reviews, improved search, universal controller support, and a more personalized storefront.
Epic has also been unusually blunt about why this is happening. Earlier this year, Epic Games Store VP and general manager Steven Allison said the launcher “sucks,” calling out its slow refresh behavior and saying the team was essentially pulling out the old guts and replacing them with new ones. That kind of honesty is refreshing, even if it arrives several years after everyone else reached the same conclusion.
For players, the real test will not be whether Epic can promise Steam-like features on a slide. It will be whether Launcher V2 actually loads fast, stays out of the way, and gives people a reason to use the store for something other than free game claim day.
