2K has removed its launcher from all PC games

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

Announced in a blog post on Tuesday, 2K said the launcher has now been removed from every game that used it on Steam and Epic Games Store.

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

PC launchers are used by some publishers as a means of booting their games. However, many users dislike them because of the extra issues they can cause when launching titles.

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

“We’ve done the heavy lifting, but to take it all the way home there might be one step left for you,” it says. “First thing is to try closing and reopening Steam – that means completely closing and not just using the X to minimize the platform.

“Rebooting your PC is a good way to be sure it happened. For Epic, just make sure you’ve downloaded the most recent update for the game.”

Bioshock Remastered, Bioshock 2 Remastered, Bioshock Infinite, The Quarry, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns will now all 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 case issues, such as requiring the launcher to enable mod support.