The 2K Launcher Is Officially Removed And New XCOM 2 Mod Manager Is Steam Deck Supported

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There are a few issues that all Steam Deck users know about and dislike that make games unplayable or have worse performance overall. Anti-cheats and Denuvo are usually at the top of the list, but one that sticks with them just as much as third-party launchers within Steam. While it hasn't caused as many issues, the 2K Launcher has made it a bit obnoxious to launch some of their games that have the launcher, but this will no longer be the issue!

Announced via a blog post on 2K's website, the 2K Launcher has officially completely been shut down and removed from all of the games it was included in. The post specifies that the Bioshock trilogy, The Quarry, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and Civilization 6 will now launch directly into the game when you hit play on Steam. However, there are some new Steam launch options for Mafia Trilogy, XCOM 2/Chimera Squad, and Civilization 5.

Civilization 5 will now have the old launcher options embedded directly into Steam, so you can select to play with DirectX 9, DirectX 10/11, or Touch. The Mafia Trilogy will have a secondary option to launch the game's original launcher, even though there is a way to completely disable the launcher already when in-game.

For XCOM 2, there are multiple different options now due to the old launcher having the mod support functionality. You will now have the option to open a new Mod Launcher and the original one, which allows you to continue using mods for the game. There is also confirmation that both the new and original mod launchers work on the Steam Deck, but you may need to use the touch screen as some input buttons don't work.

The removal of the launcher officially began a week ago, but a follow-up update went out to Steam today to make sure everything was removed, and I couldn't be happier. I am glad there are less roadblocks to get through to play the game, and even if the launcher is on the smaller end of the issues, it did need touch controls to get through, so now some of these games may get their Verified badges!

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