K Games has removed the 2K Launcher from its games on Steam and Epic.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

Additionally, on November 25 the publisher pushed out an update on Steam that fully removed the 2K Games launcher, replacing the folder that contained all of its files and data on your PC with a single text file named “2kLauncherRemoved.txt.” The publisher says you can safely delete that file, too.

The 2K Launcher has been removed from every game that had used it on the Epic Games Store and Steam, according to a support page for the launcher that 2K updated this week.

2K explains on its support page that on November 18, the 2K launcher was removed from every game that used it on Steam and Epic, and a second update went out on November 25 to ensure that it was truly removed on Steam. And yes, that includes special beta launchers like the one you got for Civilization 5.

As of November 25, the 2K launcher is no longer required in any 2K published games on either Steam of Epic Games Store.

K Games have officially nuked the 2K Launcher from orbit, finally removing it from their games across both Steam and Epic.

Secondary launchers for a game can be rather irritating. Clicking play via Steam or Epic and then having to click play again is a champagne problem, if we're being honest, but it's one that 2K has gone ahead and removed for us, making our PC-playing lives that much easier.

"As of November 18, 2024, the 2K Launcher has been removed from every game that used it on Epic and Steam," said 2K. "Additionally, we also removed the “2K Launcher Beta”, a completely separate launcher, from Sid Meier’s Civilization V.

2K Games has pulled its launcher from all its PC games as part of a “complete sunset” of the software, which means PC gamers can now launch all 2K games directly in Steam.