Epic Games is continuing a large-scale technical overhaul of its launcher and store, which the company is positioning as a full restart of the application. According to the developers, the new version is supposed to deliver a noticeably higher level of performance — on average several times faster than before — as well as personalized recommendations, quick categories, and built-in patch notes. In effect, this is not a cosmetic update but a ground-up rebuild of the client software, a fact also confirmed by independent technical reviews that note a deep redesign of the store interface.
What Users Are Promised
The key argument Epic Games makes in favor of the new launcher is performance. The company claims a multiple speed-up in loading and operation, complemented by features that competitors previously lacked: a personalized recommendations feed, simplified category navigation, and built-in patch notes that let users track game updates without leaving for external resources. Taken together, these elements paint the picture of a smarter, faster client aimed at keeping users inside the store's ecosystem.
Expert Skepticism: Steam's Dominance
Nevertheless, experts treat these promises with caution. Emmanuel Ruzie, head of market intelligence at the analytics firm Newzoo, notes that Steam's dominance on the PC platform has already become virtually inevitable. In his assessment, Epic Games' strategy of attracting an audience through weekly free game giveaways mostly results in users 'collecting' titles on their accounts but rarely actually playing them. As a result, the giveaway mechanic does not convert into a sustained active audience capable of pulling players away from Valve's ecosystem.
A War on All Fronts and a Scattering of Effort
An additional factor pointed out by analysts is Epic Games' attempt to fight on several markets at once: against Steam on PC, as well as against Apple and Google in the mobile segment. This multi-front approach, experts believe, leads to a dilution of the company's resources and focus. At the same time, analysts highly rate Epic Games' current success as a developer: Fortnite has become a full-fledged cross-media gaming platform capable of collaborations with all kinds of franchises, which sustains audience interest and the company's revenue regardless of the store's performance.
Contradictory Data
Publications about the launcher overhaul contain a discrepancy in the figures for the claimed speed-up. One description of the new features uses the wording 'doubled performance' while simultaneously specifying 'on average five times faster,' whereas headlines in specialized outlets lock in the fivefold speed-up as the key metric. The gap between a 'twofold' and a 'fivefold' speed-up is significant: the first figure describes a minimum or peak scenario, the second — an average across scenarios. Until the company publishes a single verified benchmark, both formulations coexist in the media landscape, and readers should keep in mind that final performance will depend on the specific use case and the user's hardware.
Bottom line: the technical restart of the launcher and store is a real and major step by Epic Games, aimed at addressing long-standing complaints about speed and navigation. However, according to Newzoo analysts, simply speeding up the client is not enough to shift the balance of power on the PC market, where Steam holds dominant positions and the free-giveaway model does not deliver sustained growth in the active audience. The company's strength remains its development work, above all Fortnite, which continues to function as a cross-media platform and a source of attention.
