2K removes its controversial launcher from all PC titles, including BioShock, XCOM, and more

by Danny Craig  · 
2K removes its controversial launcher from all PC titles, including BioShock, XCOM, and more
2K

After years of player complaints, 2K has officially removed its launcher from all of its PC releases, allowing games like XCOM and BioShock to run without it.

The details:

  • In a new blog post, 2K announced that the launcher will be phased out entirely, confirming that its games on Steam and the Epic Games Store will no longer require it to open when launching games. Players will need to download a new patch for 2K games, which will automatically remove the launcher from their systems and replace it with a text file that they can safely delete if they wish.

  • 2K has confirmed that simply clicking Play on Steam or EGS will cause Bioshock Remastered, Bioshock 2 Remastered, Bioshock Infinite, The Quarry, and Marvel's Midnight Suns to launch directly into the game. Other titles, such as Mafia Trilogy Definitive Edition and XCOM 2, require a little more tinkering to play, with the latter previously using the launcher for mod support.

  • The introduction of the 2K launcher was met with outrage from fans, with many claiming that it was nothing more than bloatware as players were forced to open it to play games they had already purchased on another storefront. Aside from being a general inconvenience, it was reported to have caused noticeable performance issues and even crashes, with many players looking for ways to disable it entirely.

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