Epic has launched a new version of its launcher for the Epic Games Store, natively compatible with three Linux distros: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later, Fedora 43 or higher, Debian 12 or higher. Although it’s still only a preview, it can already be installed by all users. Either way, we don’t recommend doing so for one simple reason: it’s made entirely with AI using what’s known as vibe coding, programming without a person having typed even a single line of code, with an LLM creating all the code with no more human input than the prompts it’s been given.
A suboptimal way to program
This form of programming, besides being tremendously inefficient (as a recent study from Harvard University has shown), is prone to creating bugs and introducing unnecessary lines of code. Which means that, in the medium to long term, security problems are more likely to arise that can compromise the systems that use vibe-coded software.
Epic’s reason for making this new launcher is that, in the words of a company representative, “the current store launcher sucks”. Which is why they’ve decided to make a new one. And because, according to the company, “programming is hard”, they’ve decided to vibe-code the new launcher, even if, as we’ve already pointed out, that can cause a lot of problems. Especially considering that it’s a program that stores sensitive personal data, including banking details, at risk of being stolen.
All this is in line with Epic’s new policy of creating AI-first games, which has led to the delay of its new game in collaboration with Disney featuring characters from Star Wars and Marvel. So it seems that Epic isn’t going to stop pushing AI into every possible aspect of the company, whether or not it’s been shown to be effective.
