--launcher-skip game not launching. RedLauncher is disgusting.

[The Master]

Hey, so I'm a pretty huge fan of this game, owned it on Steam for years, owned it on GOG since launch, and own it on PS5 as well. I wanted to do another replay on Steam but found out that on Steam, the game now incorporates an extremely disgusting launcher called RedLauncher.

I don't permit that crap on my PC, so I immediately uninstalled and tried to play the game normally without it, and it just won't boot.

I then added --launcher-skip to bypass the launcher after a 2nd round of uninstalled RedLauncher (because pressing play automatically reinstalls what I consider spyware, I allow no non-steam launchers on my PC), and the game still wouldn't launch because I immediately cancelled the launch and uninstalled RedLauncher again.

I've been finnicking with it for hours now. Bypassing it isn't good enough. I want a way to launch the game without EVER INSTALLING RedLauncher in the first place. I will not tolerate it on my system for even a second.

Anyone got any ideas?

Edits : I can boot from the .exe directly in the bin folder, obviously, but that's basically no different than just playing the GOG version that doesn't come with Steam achievements but doesn't have this idiotic launcher issue in the first place. I'd rather not rely on this for the Steam version of the game.

Also, the one time I was able to get it to boot, it's got black bars on the top & bottom in 16:10 mode - anyone know how to fix this as well?

[Alucard †]

Can your PC run Witcher 3 in DX12 properly? Cause i recall i had trouble with that too and game kept defaulting to DX12 when i launched it with the launcher skip. Which made it not launch properly

I had to poke in configs to change it so it defaults to DX11

[The Master]

Originally posted by Alucard †:

Can your PC run Witcher 3 in DX12 properly? Cause i recall i had trouble with that too and game kept defaulting to DX12 when i launched it with the launcher skip. Which made it not launch properly

I had to poke in configs to change it so it defaults to DX11

Yes.

13900HX, 4090m, 64GB DDR5 5600MHz, 6TB Storage from 2 Samsung 990 Pros. 2TB C: and 4TB D: drive.

It's not a hardware issue. I am immensely above spec. It's an issue with my refusal to allow RedLauncher on my system.

As far as the black bars go, this is a relatively new issue for me since my laptop has a 16:10 display, but you'd figure a game like this wouldn't have that issue. This however, is a pittance compared to the issue I take with CDPR adding a damned launcher to the game years and years and years after launch out of nowhere and for no reason other than stealing consumer data. The game didn't and does not need it, they should be ashamed of themselves for having done it, and they need to fix it.

If I just want to bypass the launcher, --launcher-skip does that fine, but leaves RedLauncher installed, which is completely unacceptable. If I want it entirely removed & the files to install it removed from the games folder, the game throws a fit in Steam and declares that it can't find the redlauncher installer and won't boot when I press play.

If I uninstall it manually but leave the files to install it again alone, and have --launcher-skip in place, which in theory should bypass the need to install it at all but somehow doesn't, the game never boots.

If I boot it from .exe, it falls back to DX12, and editing the .json file to use DX11 instead is more hassle than it's worth to just say F-this on Steam, stop caring about the Steam achievements for this game, and just play the copy I've had from GOG for years that doesn't have any of this launcher nonsense tacked on.

What they need to do is remove RedLauncher from the games files entirely on Steam. No simple bypass is acceptable. Only a solution that never sees it installed in the first place in any capacity is.

[Darkstorm]

In steam library on the left find Witcher 3, right click it, properties, beta and you should be able to use another version on there. Hopefully that resolves the issue.

[The Master]

Originally posted by Darkstorm:

In steam library on the left find Witcher 3, right click it, properties, beta and you should be able to use another version on there. Hopefully that resolves the issue.

I already default to 1.32 for balance reasons since 4.04 made the game way too easy and I hate change. This does nothing for the issue at hand and RedLauncher remains installed, or uninstalled and the game refusing to boot because of it.

[Alucard †]

R.I.P

I do have to agree the launcher is awful. For me it kept freezing (the launcher itself not the game) when i tried to lauch the game from it.

So i actually had to resort to launcher skip. It wasn't really a choice for me.

[boylife]

Meds.

[The Master]

Originally posted by 51bucksplaya(＞人＜):

Meds.

? Huh?

[Crack's]

I have the same problem. The game can be launched through the root folder in x64, but the Steam overlay will not be available.