Steam Outpaces Epic’s New Launcher in Speed Test

Valve has moved quickly to reclaim performance bragging rights after Epic Games unveiled its redesigned launcher. Epic's new client, which entered preview status this week, was marketed primarily on speed improvements over Steam's notoriously sluggish interface. However, within 24 hours of Epic's announcement, Valve released an update that restored Steam's performance advantage.

In benchmark tests on standard systems, Steam's boot time dropped to 5.23 seconds, surpassing Epic's revamped launcher. The rapid response underscores Valve's ability to optimize its aging platform when faced with direct competition.

While Epic's Launcher V2 represents a significant upgrade from its previous iteration, the company's new client still lags behind Steam in raw speed. Epic's development approach, which the company described using the term "vibe coded," yielded measurable improvements but ultimately fell short of overtaking Valve's optimized client.

Beyond performance metrics, Epic's launcher continues to lack fundamental features that users have expected for years, even in this newly redesigned version.