Valve beats Epic to the punch, updates Steam launcher 1 day before its rival claims to be "faster" thanks to AI-powered vibe coding

Epic Games has just overhauled its launcher using generative AI, unveiling a new "vibe coded" version meant to be faster than Valve's Steam – but, spoiler alert… it's seemingly not so quick, after all.

Although Epic publicly called out Steam, claiming its launcher is now "faster than the other guy" (with Valve's launcher being the other guy here, if that's not obvious), fans are proving the company wrong – and, hey, why not?

After all, Epic Games did also instruct us to "test it out" for ourselves should we not believe its claims. And, as it turns out, a new Steam update dropped just one day before Epic's controversial assertion.

You'll find the full details over on Steam itself, where one little note in particular stands out: "Improved Steam Client startup performance." In other words, the Steam launcher boots up more quickly than it did before – and boy, does it.

So much more, in fact, that it beats the so-called improved Epic launcher and its AI-powered foundation.

A user on X records their screen to prove it, amusingly writing, "they didn't even take 24 hours to eat them alive."

Yes, "they" is Steam and "them" is Epic there – and it's undeniably hilarious. The clip shows Steam opening in five seconds, which is a solid five seconds less than Epic claimed it takes.

I decided to test this myself, too, opening both Steam and Epic, and I'm happy to report that it all checks out. Valve did beat Epic Games to the punch here with its Steam update, and others online are finding the same.

A separate post sees another user test the speed, for example. They, too, declare that "Epic's claim is WRONG" and Steam launches in five seconds.

It's not the only exciting thing about Valve's patch, either. There are various gorgeous Big Picture Mode changes, improvements to everything from layout to the in-game overlay, and plenty more.

It's a hefty update that deserves more attention than the Epic comparisons it's getting – but hey, they are funny… and, apparently, valid.

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