Want to play GTA 5 Steam version... by only using Rockstar Launcher...

[MaseCrafty]

Hey guys, hoping you can help me out. I have GTA 5 on steam, and it plays fine. If I open the Rockstar Launcher, and I click GTA5, it asks me to buy game (option if I already own it, but wants an activation code, tried to enter in my Steam activation code, says already in use). To play it, I have to launch from Steam. Any chance I can just open up Rockstar Launcher and just launch the game without doing it thru Steam. I only play GTA Online, and I'd like to not use Steam to play it each time. Werd!

[SqueakyTweaky]

No it is part of the drm protection.

[taki]

Login to your Steam account that owns Gta V, then uninstall it, after that uninstall Rockstar Games Launcher. Now redownload Rockstar Games Launcher, once open you can install your Gta V bought on Rockstar. Also, You can try to copy-paste files ( you will not need to re-download)

[Karna5]

You should be able to start GTAO Steam version directly from the Rockstar Launcher so long as you have Steam open. When you launch it from the Rockstar launcher it will flash the message that it's launching Steam Version, then it'll authenticate with Steam and start the game. I've done it with no issue. If you're having a problem I suspect you don't have Steam open making it so it can't authenticate you.

Remember, authentication on Steam version must have Steam even if you're launching it from the Rockstar Games launcher.

[MaseCrafty]

Thanks Karna. Here's a more complex question. If I buy the game from Rockstar (Rockstar Launcer) and as you know it associates with my Rockstar Social Club ID. If I do buy the game again... will it remember my online purchases, etc. Safe to assume story mode starts over again, no record of achievements, etc.

[SqueakyTweaky]

Originally posted by SlaterDies:

Thanks Karna. Here's a more complex question. If I buy the game from Rockstar (Rockstar Launcer) and as you know it associates with my Rockstar Social Club ID. If I do buy the game again... will it remember my online purchases, etc. Safe to assume story mode starts over again, no record of achievements, etc.

If you mean buy again, & link with steam again then that is not possible.

[MaseCrafty]

Karna. If my Steam account pulls from Rockstar Social Club (pretend my ID is Dude123). And then via Rockstar Launcher, I buy the game again (if I do it even says It'll be under the account Dude123). If I do buy from Rockstar Launcher... will my online data still exist... since my data from my Steam game is literally Rockstar Social Club, just a path to it... won't my online data still exist?

[SqueakyTweaky]

Originally posted by SlaterDies:

Karna. If my Steam account pulls from Rockstar Social Club (pretend my ID is Dude123). And then via Rockstar Launcher, I buy the game again (if I do it even says It'll be under the account Dude123). If I do buy from Rockstar Launcher... will my online data still exist... since my data from my Steam game is literally Rockstar Social Club, just a path to it... won't my online data still exist?

No

[MaseCrafty]

Ah that sucks. Thanks for the info.

[Karna5]

Sorry for AFK. I can answer the second question from experience as well because I purchased Red Dead Online directly from Rockstar, not from Steam.

1. If you buy from Steam, it authenticates from steam but can be launched from either steam or directly from Rockstar. However, it's a different game than from Rockstar. They don't share info.

2. If you buy from Rockstar, you can launch from Steam if you add it manually (so you can get F12 screen shots), but it authenticates from Rockstar, not from Steam. And Steam won't even be able to track your hours played.

Steam purchase and Rockstar purchased do not share authentication. They're like two separate games and are definitely two separate accounts.

This said, if you purchase from steam, your Rockstar Social club can still track your progress because you link your steam account to Rockstar Social club. This does mean, however, that you should not (possibly cannot) purchase either GTA nor RDO twice because they get tracked by your Social Club account (though not authenticated to play by it).

To recap, I purchased GTA through Steam (and Xbox2 in 2013, but that's not relevant). I purchased RDO through Rockstar. They're both linked to my same Social Club account, but authentication to log in is different for each one.

[Karna5]

I am worried my answer was too wordy *Laughs* So to answer: "If I buy the game from Rockstar (Rockstar Launcer) and as you know it associates with my Rockstar Social Club ID. If I do buy the game again... will it remember my online purchases, etc"

Your progress is linked to your social club. So you can't link two versions of GTAO or RDO to the same social club account meaning they won't share your progress if you buy it again and start a new social club account, and you can't link two of the same game to the same social club account.

[MaseCrafty]

Karna, that last post is very helpful. Not to complicate further... if you do NOT own the game thru the Rockstar Launcher, and you DO own the game via Steam... at least the way I installed it... Rockstar will NOT launch my game via Rockstar Launcher (I know this can be done, if installed the appropriate way). The way I have to launch it is through Steam. This is NOT my goal, just an explanation of how I'm operating. If I do try to launch the game with Rockstar Launcher, it says I can buy the game and it WILL attach to my current Social Club name. That is why I was thinking, if I bought it again via Rockstar Launcher,,,, using my Social Club name I've used with Steam, it would retain my Online progress. I'm wondering if anyone has attempted to do this.

[Karna5]

Hi, StlaterDies. That's weird you can't launch through Rockstar Games Launcer. I bought GTAO on Steam. If I open Rockstar Games Launcher and click "Grand Theft Auto V" the button says "Play On Steam." If I click that button while steam is open, it launches GTAV/O.

I bought RDR2/RDO directly from Rockstar Games (I didn't wait for it to come to steam). If I open the rockstar games launcher and click "Red Dead Redemption 2" the button says "Play." If I click that button even without Steam running, it launches RDR2/RDO.

When you open the rockstar games launcher, is it saying Play or Play On Steam for you? If it's saying Play, then perhaps there's some kind of link step missing for you. I bought GTA5 on Steam when it first came out (I think maybe 6 years ago), so I don't remember if I did a link step for linking Social Club and Steam.

If you say "Play" but not "Play On Steam" consider trying to find if there a way to get the Play On Steam option, either through searching your menus or sending a question to Rockstar Support.

[JACKSin]

When you buy a game from steam it launches through steam. You can either start it from Steam or you can start it from the R* launcher but it will open both programs either way.

[MaseCrafty]

If you look earlier in the thread... it's possible to install, where you need to launch through steam... unless you uninstall and reinstall in a particular way. Although... my main point was... I don't want to launch Steam... and was wondering if I just purchased thru Rockstar Launcher I could bypass Steam... yet retain the progress in my online game. I don't mind buying again.

[Wren]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.