BioShock, XCOM, Civ 6 freed from 2K Launcher (Eurogamer)

[Gorbles]

Haven't seen anything else on this recently, so just wanted to make sure folks were aware of the latest:

BioShock, XCOM, Civ 6 freed from 2K Launcher

BioShock and Mafia publisher 2K has killed off its PC launcher, and uncoupled its top titles from the software.

www.eurogamer.net

Steam and Epic Games Store versions of BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered, BioShock Infinite, Mafia Trilogy Definitive Edition, Civilization 5 and 6, The Quarry, XCOM 2, XCOM: Chimera Squad and Marvel's Midnight Suns will now run without the 2K Launcher opening first.

In a blog post on the changes, 2K said its launcher had now been removed from every game that used it on Epic and Steam. Last night, an update was sent out to 2K games on Steam to ensure its removal - in case you wondered why BioShock was patched again.

I can confirm I have updates pending for Civ VI and Bioshock:

 

[Quintillus]

This is actually as of a few months ago for Civ VI (https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...native-2k-launcher-no-longer-required.691245/), although it's news for some other 2K games.

Kind of refreshing. The only launchers that I've found useful have been ones that let me configure which mods I'm playing with, and I'd just as well configure that in-game like is done with Civ VI. And the launcher probably made less sense for 2K than for some other publishers, given the diversity of types of games that 2K publishes. I can at least see the argument for something like the Total War launcher - you fire up Attila Total War and learn there's been a big update for Pharoah Total War, you might decide it's time to pick up the latter game since it was likely in your wheelhouse anyway. The overlap is likely lower among 2K's games.

 

[Verrucosus]

I can at least see the argument for something like the Total War launcher - you fire up Attila Total War and learn there's been a big update for Pharoah Total War, you might decide it's time to pick up the latter game since it was likely in your wheelhouse anyway. The overlap is likely lower among 2K's games.

That's true, but that difference is really just about the advertisement of other games being more or less likely to be of interest to the player. It's still an advertisement tied to a product you've already paid. The implied message is still: "Thanks for buying my game. Now I'll use it to try to get you to buy another one. My chance that you might is more important than your small inconvenience in having to use this launcher every time or spending time looking for a workaround."

I'm really glad that the launcher was removed. I would have been even happier if the Civilization VI main menu had not first been turned into piece of adware with that attention-grabbing challenge-of-the-month window. I'll be pleasantly surprised and appropriately grateful when that window gets removed once there are no new challenges.

 

[Disgustipated]

Glad to see it gone, but yeah the Civ 6 main menu is a mess. It's slow and a bit buggy. Not to mention it covers up the beautiful artwork. I miss the old main menu.

 

[SemiLazyGamer]

We've known about Vi being removed since August when they confirmed VII wouldn't be on there, but glad other games got the same treatment.