Valve released an update for the Steam client on October 13, implementing improvements such as better startup performance.Meanwhile, on October 14, the Epic Games Launcher promoted its latest version—which uses “vibe coding”—as having a startup time of 5.47 seconds, faster than Steam’s. However, the international media outlet VideoCardz reports that verification results show the current version of Steam actually starts up in 5.23 seconds.
The Epic Games Launcher, which had been touting its faster startup speed compared to Steam
On October 14, Epic Games announced that the Epic Games Launcher—the launcher for the Epic Games Store—had been upgraded and began distributing a preview version.
The new launcher, which reportedly uses Vibecoding, has various features. Regarding its faster startup speed, the company posted a comparison on X showing that it takes 5.47 seconds compared to Steam’s 10.07 seconds, highlighting its overwhelming advantage with a 46% reduction.
This came shortly after reports that the company had issued an internal message stating, “We will no longer write hand-coded code,” so it garnered significant attention as a result of their emphasis on AI utilization.
Steam startup times are already…
Amid this situation, some have pointed out the existence of a Steam client update released by Valve on October 13. The update notes include an item stating, “Improved Steam client startup performance.”
The international media outlet VideoCardz reported on this matter today, October 15, noting that tests by an X user confirmed the updated Steam client launches in 5.23 seconds.
The article also points out that the tests conducted by Epic Games beforehand and the tests by the aforementioned user were conducted separately, making a direct comparison of the numbers impossible; however, it is certain that as of October 13, the Steam client was launching faster than before.
