What does the launcher do with regard to the operation of the game that cannot be done within the actual game itself? Is it due to a technical limitation or simply there for the convenience of the players? Are there alternatives to such methods of starting the execution of games?
Because it’s coded like shit.
Minecraft is a fucking mess. 18 different products but 10 of them are just different platforms and the same game. All the authentication is different for the different versions too so if you have the Java one it doesnt work to login on the others.
Just shit software all around.
They do this and keep their top selling games exclusive to their platforms. Games like GTA have shown just how much money you can make off micro transactions. No company is going to just jump out of that market. They use their top games so they are more liley to get people to just have it installed. That way you install the launcher, put in your credit card, and you are only a click away from handing them some money.
There can be positive benefits though, auto updates, update news, community messaging or content.
But mostly so they can get the hardest part of selling done, a valid payment method input.
I googled a screenshot of the launcher, so this could be from an older version. It looks like they have a link to buy merchandise, digital upgrades, advertising more games by the company that you have not bought yet. Also links to submit submit a but, let’s them hopefully have less QA personal. Community link to help the longevity of the game for longer term sales.
Other answers in thread are good, but I like them because I don’t have to wait for a game to fully load if I misclick
Managing updates, versions, mods, and settings can be done from a launcher instead of the game itself and it’s often easier that way. If you wanted to adjust mods in-game you’d need to restart the game for changes to take effect.
Before Steam became the universal launcher, lots of games had their own. Minecraft isn’t a Steam game so it comes with its own launcher.
If you wanted to adjust mods in-game you’d need to restart the game for changes to take effect
This completely depends on the game. There’s nothing inherently about mods that requires this.
The only game I can think of that doesn’t actually require a restart is Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what I’ve encountered.
Luanti is kind of the obvious example to point to, with it being a community-developed engine for Minecraft-like games. But yeah, what @Azzu@lemm.ee said very much makes the difference. As opposed to Minecraft, Luanti has modding support built-in.
Minecraft is special. The launcher sets up a bunch of Java stuff and other game configurations. And it downloads updates and handles authentication. Technically you don’t need it, but it makes it a little easier for the developers and the users. There are also third party launchers with additional functionality like downloading mods.
Other games often pretend they need that stuff when in reality they just want some more tracking that is not in the game itself.
Technically you don’t need it, but it makes it a little easier for the developers and the users.
For that matter, if you poke around in some games’ files, you can find the actual game.exe and launch it directly from there, bypassing the launcher. You just bypass the authentication and compatibility checking as well.
That, my friends, is also how you play games from the epic store. And how to bypass steam as well.
Doesn’t work with every game, though. Some have DRM that depends on the launcher and/or authentication.
