UPDATE: The launcher on Rogue Trader is being rolled back. The game is being reverted to the previous version, but the process might take a couple of hours. Official communication to come through Steam.
Developer Owlcat Games is introducing its newest invention: the Owlcat Launcher, so far confined to Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. The developers revealed that the launcher will serve as a hub, allowing players to stay up to date with the latest news while getting into the game as quickly as ever. The games themselves, including your save files, will remain unchanged.
The developers admit that they are aware that players find launchers clumsy and annoying, and strive to make theirs as unobtrusive as possible, while providing a lot of options and flexibility for the users. Additionally, Owlcats aim for the launcher to be lightweight, require no mandatory registration and be useful and beneficial not only for the team, but also for the players.
The Owlcat launcher allows players to see a list of all Owlcat titles, information about them and links to the social media in one place. Additionally, it features news and important announcements for all games – current and upcoming. Finally, it allows to purchase, install or launch any of the Owlcat Games, including Rue Valley and Shadow of the Road, regardless of platform.
“With so much happening (both within our own ecosystem and across an increasingly crowded market) we noticed it’s becoming more challenging for players to keep up with news and updates about our games. And for us, as a growing studio with multiple new unannounced RPGs already in production, being able to reach our players is crucial.
For example, according to our research, a surprisingly large portion of the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous audience who express a clear desire to play a ‘similar CRPG’ have never even heard of Rogue Trader. This, upon reflection, is understandable—in this age of information overload, it’s incredibly easy to miss even news that might be of interest. Therefore, we felt we really needed an effective cross-promotion tool for all our titles.”
You are free to opt out of using the launcher, but players in the Steam discussions note that it will still be active, just minimized.
