Epic said its game launcher was faster than Steam on the same day Steam got a speed boost—so I've put both to the test

Two major gaming platforms, Steam and Epic Games Store, both released updates on the same day vowing faster launchers. Curious to settle the debate, I put them to the test on my iBuyPower PC equipped with an RTX 4070 Super graphics card.

I timed how long each launcher took to fully load into their respective store fronts after opening from the system tray. On average, the Steam client took 9.32 seconds, while the Epic Games Launcher took 5.98 seconds on my rig.

While Epic's launcher did load faster, Steam's interface made it easier to exit. In Steam, I simply clicked Steam in the top left corner and selected 'exit' from the dropdown menu. Task Manager confirmed Steam wasn't secretly running in the background.

Exiting the Epic Games Launcher, on the other hand, was less straightforward. You could click the 'x' in the corner or right-click the system tray icon and select 'Close window'. However, I had to end the task twice for each test, as closing the window didn't stop the launcher from running in the background.

Despite this minor annoyance, Steam's recent Big Art update has improved my game library significantly. I've also found the personal calendar feature particularly useful. However, Steam's client isn't without its flaws. I've experienced quirks with local game transfers and dislike the bouncing logo screensaver. Additionally, the cluttered store page layout doesn't appeal to me as much as Epic's more austere look.