How To Bypass The Third-Party Launcher (DEPRECIATED)

This Is A Guide About Bypassing/Removing The Third-Party Launcher From Civilization 5, Its Simple And Easy.

2k finally removed the launcher, have fun playing and thanks for supporting my launcher bypass guide.

Directions To Bypass The Third-Party Launcher

1) double click the drive steam was installed on.

- note: (in some cases you may have a second steam folder if you have moved games to another drive, in that case its that "drive:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization V\DX of choice.exe" %command%, or in the case of replacing or adding more drives and the drive letter changed for the game, simply edit in the drive letter to the steam launch option already in place.

- note: if steam is installed on your C drive, then you will likely find steam under "program files (x86)", then the rest of the path as follows below.

2) double click "steam".

3) double click "steamapps".

4) double click "common".

5) double click "Sid Meier's Civilization V".

6) move mouse to the bar above, left click on the bar and it should produce a drive path, then you left click and drag over to highlight, then right click and copy.

- note: you can also do the above through steam, under settings then storage, right click on game, choose "manage", then "browse local files", it opens the folder for said game and as above (step 6), mouse over bar above, left click, then right click drag and highlight, then right click and copy.

(example: mine looks like this) ^

7) navigate to your games library on steam.

8) right click on (Sid Meier's Civilization V).

9) select properties.

10) under general tab, you should see a launch option box at the bottom.

11) you can right click and paste, the command in the steam launch option box, or simply paste it to a text document for easier editing.

(example: mine looks like this) ^

12) you will have to add the quotes, as well as add the exe of choice ("CivilizationV, CivilizationV_DX11, Civilization_Tablet), then add a space, then add %command% at the end, it should look just like mine above with the only difference being the drive letter, the folder the path starts with (ie... as noted in the beginning of the guide) being "steam" or "SteamLibrary" and the DX.exe of choice.

13) click ok (if edited in the launch option box), or (if you edited it on a text document) right click highlight and copy, then right click paste in launch option box and click ok.

now your set to run the game without the third-party launcher, it should start up as it did before the launcher was added.

Side Notes

i set this guide to every category so it can be seen easier.

if you feel i should add something or i missed something, or corrections, let me know in the comments.

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as far as i know bypassing third-party launchers like this, works on all games with third-party launchers (not once had a problem with it not working so far), for paradox, Fraxis or other games, using the exe (be it 32/64 or game with different exes with a DX choice) , works on all windows OS (may as well work on linux?), also wouldnt bother trying on games with anticheats.

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if your having problems with the launcher or other launchers, then use this to bypass it, if you for some reason like or dont care about third-party launchers, then this may or may not be for you.

this is the easiest way to bypass a third-party launcher, no need to create anything, modify anything, or install useless stuff, you simply copy and paste a drive path to steam launch settings, if you feel like doing other "guides" that have more complex and lengthy stuff to bypass a third-party launcher, then by all means... you can do those.

there is a few other ways posted in these links... if you want to try them out, honestly mine (which i got from Ghadaro) is best.

(dev/moderator solution)

https://steamcommunity.com/app/8930/discussions/0/3374780959399986368/

or this one posted in a thread by Ghadaro which has 3 options.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/8930/discussions/0/3374780959400257942/
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please: thumbs up, rate and refer this guide to anyone who wants to remove and play without the launcher.

toss an award on this guide if you want, its your choice.

enjoy and have fun.

[addiktio]

You still need to do this if you use a steam:// shortcut to launch the game. I got Steam to launch the DX11 version after a cache delete (which seems pointless, but somehow had an effect) but it only works if launched via Library, otherwise it starts the DX9 version reagardless of the selected basic launch option.

With this, the shortcuts work too.

Stay strong, 2K.

[MonkehMaster]

thanks for the support, 2k retired and removed the launcher, the game should now run fine without the launch command, though it being there likely shouldnt mess with the game.

that said, any issues with the game now, will likely be, drivers, runtimes, direct x, .net/desktop runtime, os updates missing or messing up stuff, onedrive, etc.. or the devs after removal of the launcher.

ask if help is needed, im sure i or anyone else subbed to this guide van help, or simply use the game forum to ask for help.

have fun playing civ 5

[MonkehMaster]

@ghostlux, you will need to explain a bit further, is the launch command you pasted in correct?

[GhostLux]

im have done you steps but when im click play on steam nothing happens a short start of running the app then in 1 sec its to press again play buttom ;/

[MonkehMaster]

edited the guide, removed some useless steps, made some corrections and added some notes.

@gardian06 thanks i added it as a note, but im leaving the steps to learn people how to navigate their pc's.

@a thousand nights, thanks for mentioning that, since i dont have steam installed on my C drive, i forgot about steam going under program files (x86), i added that as a note as well.

[gardian06]

steps 1-5 can be simplified:
'with the game installed, in your steam library right-click "Sid Meier's Civilization V" in the game list, hover over "Manage" and left-click "Browse Local Files"; this will open a file explorer at the location the games executable is located'
(the window may open minimized, but you will be accessible from the task bar)

[der Zeitgeist]

Try this one: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization V\CivilizationV_DX11.exe" %command%

[der Zeitgeist]

it still works!

[MonkehMaster]

@antiganina, good stuff

now you can have fun without the launcher

[antiganina]

this worked for me after trying everything else!!