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While the Epic Games Store has continued to grow over the years thanks to free games, major releases, and exclusive titles, many users have criticized the launcher for being slow and frustrating to navigate. In fact, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney even admitted last year that the launcher is “messy.” And now, Epic Games is finally taking these complaints seriously.
During Unreal Fest taking place in Chicago this week, Epic shared its plans for the future of the Epic Games Store and confirmed that a major overhaul of the launcher is currently in development. The company has been rebuilding the software from the ground up, with one of the biggest goals being a major increase in performance.
Epic Games Store roadmap revealed, includes new launcher
Based on internal testing, Epic Games Launcher V2 will provide a cold start time that is on average 5 times faster than the current version. This is a significant improvement and addresses one of the most common frustrations players have experienced over the past few years. Restoring from the system tray is also said to be 6.5 times faster on average.
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Earlier this year, Steven Allison, vice president and general manager of the Epic Games Store accepted it The launcher was not giving the expected experience to the players. He explained that the current system relies heavily on backend service calls whenever users move between different sections, which can result in noticeable delays depending on the quality of the Internet connection.
The new launcher aims to solve these issues by changing the underlying architecture rather than just implementing small fixes. Epic says the V2 private beta is “up first” on its roadmap, while the V2 public release is “up next” – no actual timeframe was provided in the presentation.
The overhaul is part of a broader roadmap for the Epic Games Store. In the near future, Epic plans to launch a private beta for Launcher V2 along with improvements to the storefront. Other upcoming features include in-store patch notes, cross-region gifting, and expanded installation support for Fortnite, which will make it easier to manage large downloads of the game.
After that, Epic intends to publicly release Launcher V2, introducing several community-focused features. Planned additions include player profiles, avatars, written user reviews, improved search functionality, and improvements to the overall store design and user experience.