There's a launch argument you can pass in called --skip-launcher. As described, it skips the launcher and goes straight to the game.
Is --skip-launcher guaranteed to work on every game with a launcher? Can I reasonably assume that if a game has a launcher, this command will bypass it?
No, that's something that the developer implements themselves (or not implement), and they can choose any words they want for the command.
I always recommend checking the game's page on PC Gaming Wiki to see if there's a command to skip the launcher or the intro.
For example:
-nointro--launcher-skip but there are other things to take into account too on the same page-nosplash but there is also another thing you can do listed on the pageNo, it seems the developer has to implement this option. This is probably not a standard argument, but a launcher-specific one.
From a Baldur's Gate 3 announcement:
Added a launch option to the LariLauncher so players can skip the launcher entirely. To use this:
- Right-click Baldur’s Gate 3 in your library and select Properties...
- On the GENERAL tab, add --skip-launcher in the LAUNCH OPTIONS field.
If it was a generic, Steam-powered launcher skip option, this step wouldn't have to be explicated (or introduced in Hotfix #15).
Divinity: Original Sin 2 received the same treatment, but it's by the same developer, and this announcement followed 3 days later.
I also can't find any other developer mentioning having implemented this particular option, even though launchers are one of those typical gamer pet peeves, and it would make sense for the developer to point out.
I have also seen the alternative --launcher-skip, which would work for Cyberpunk 2077 (and The Witcher 3, also by CD Projekt Red), suggesting it is indeed something a developer has to realise themselves, independent of Steam (or GOG Galaxy).
All arguments, with the exception of a fun thing we'll touch on later, must be voluntarly and explicitly be added by someone responsible for something in the game, be it the developer, the game engine's developer, perhaps the publisher if they're the one controlling the launcher.
The way this works is that on launch, Steam starts the execution of the game's main executable, and passes to it the arguments you've written. that's it. it's then up to the game to even care about any arguments that have been passed to it.
If you'll allow me to soapbox really quick: for these exact reasons, -SteamDeck has never and will never do anything, for any game, ever. No game, launcher, anticheat or anything else has ever cared about this and it does nothing. Anyone who is telling you otherwise without definitive proof is lying to you.
ahem.
%command%%command% is a special keyword for steam arguments. It tells steam that instead of placing the game's executable at the beggining (what decides what will be executed), it should place it where you placed it in your argument list.
Linux gamers use this functionality sometimes, for example the following argument list:
gamemoderun -arg1 %command% -arg2
will pass -arg1 [the path to the game's executable] -arg2, to the executable called gamemoderun (a popular shim on the steam deck, that can do things like force fullscreen), which is itself responsible for executing the game's executable and passing it -arg2, but will keep -arg1 for itself.
You can see how in this case, -arg1 is actually an argument for gamemoderun, and that no matter the game, gamemoderun will accept it.
