2K has removed its launcher from all PC games


BioShock, Mafia, and Civilization publisher 2K has officially shut down its PC game launcher and removed the platform from all of its games.

As announced in a blog post on Tuesday, 2K said the launcher has now been removed from all games that used it on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Additionally, the publisher also removed the “2K Launcher Beta,” a completely standalone launcher, from Sid Meier’s Civilization V.

Some publishers use PC launchers as a means of launching their games. However, many users do not like them due to the additional problems they can cause when launching titles.

In their blog post, 2K details the potential issues some titles could have due to the removal of the launcher.

“We’ve done the heavy lifting, but getting it home may have one more step left,” he says. “The first thing is to try to close and reopen Steam; that means closing completely and not just using the X to minimize the platform.

“Restarting your PC is a good way to make sure it happened. For Epic, just make sure you have downloaded the latest update for the game.”

Bioshock Remastered, Bioshock 2 Remastered, Bioshock Infinite, The Quarry, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns will now launch directly into the game as soon as users click Play, 2K says.

Other titles, such as Mafia Trilogy Definitive Edition and XCOM 2, have special cases, such as requiring the launcher to enable mod support.