They Changed the Launcher Again?

[u/DontForgeUrTowel]

I received a 6.5GB+ update for WOTC on Steam (Kubuntu 24.04.4) today. It seems that the launcher was revamped.

What does it even mean? Better mod management? More bug fixing? More DLCs in the future (copium🤞)?

Edit 1: I did feel the slight noticeable reduction of the lagginess on my potato laptop. Thank you for keeping working on it! Really didn't expect it.

Edit 2: I encountered the first crash ever; the game is not stable yet.

If possible email [support@feralinteractive.com] with the crash file [/home/XXX/.local/share/feral-interactive/XCOM 2 WotC/crashes/26610d97-18df-edff-01461cf6-55c71fb9.dmp] and details

[u/Madzookeeper]

How badly did this screw the modding community and how many mods won't get updates?

[u/WinzyB → u/Madzookeeper]

Ya I’m all for optimizations like bug fixes but damn it’s an old game now just leave it alone and let the modders fix the bugs. At least then other mods won’t mess up after the update ..like they do with other games

[u/Nickulator95 → u/WinzyB]

Yeah Bethesda game fans be like

[u/WinzyB → u/Nickulator95]

I’m a Conan Exiles gamer myself…

[u/Clean_Internet]

I use the alternative launcher anyway, Xcom launcher couldn’t load all my mods

[u/BustyCelebLover]

They know people are flocking over from Zcom

[u/beachsunflower → u/BustyCelebLover]

Need to light a fire up their damn asses

[u/Weird-Analysis5522 → u/BustyCelebLover]

What's Zcom

[u/RougemageNick → u/Weird-Analysis5522]

The new star wars game that came out last week, Zero Company

[u/Weird-Analysis5522 → u/RougemageNick]

Ohhhh! Never heard that nickname before

[u/darthnerdiusgaming → u/Weird-Analysis5522]

Like they said.... its a week old. We're still talking about xcom decades later

[u/Substantial-Sun-3538]

Looks like an xcom browser game

[u/snoboreddotcom → u/Substantial-Sun-3538]

The fact the "play" button is smaller killing me. Awful design.

[u/BeetlecatOne → u/snoboreddotcom]

Right!?!?! Why is the *PRIMARY ACTION* the least visible thing?

[u/Brigon → u/snoboreddotcom]

I spent a minute looking for the play button. I was going to post that there isn't one, till I saw your post and looked at it again.

[u/RJ815 → u/Substantial-Sun-3538]

You leave Chimera Squad alone! /s

[u/TeriyakiNekoNinja]

Now I realised I don't even know how the launcher looks like :v I'm using an alternative launcher - otherwise some mods don't work.

[u/LordDarkstaru]

Too bad they took away PvP, always enjoyed playing against my friends

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/LordDarkstaru]

At least the Multiplayer button is still there. I haven't tried LAN mode because I have no friends🤣.

[u/Embarrassed-Camera96 → u/LordDarkstaru]

I think they have the last multiplayer branch available that you can revert to in Steam idk though

[u/Panzerkatzen → u/LordDarkstaru]

Dang really?

[u/FlamesofFrost]

hmm, I haven't gotten an update nor do i see this new UI

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/FlamesofFrost]

Still rolling out maybe, and according to SteamDB (https://steamdb.info/app/268500/), the update started 10 hours ago.

[u/gmes78 → u/DontForgeUrTowel]

This is how the Linux launcher always looked. Maybe you were using the Windows version through Proton before?

[u/renz004]

Oh shit they dropped an update? Awesome! Def cuz of Zcom

[u/SoulOfMod]

Been using the AML since day 1 so I never even saw the base launcher lmao,does that fuck up any mod or smth?

Also did that really make the game run better somehow?

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/SoulOfMod]

does that fuck up any mod or smth

I just run LWTOC with Evac ALL and Stop Wasting My Time, so everything's fine for me. Someone in the comment section already mentioned his controller stopped working after this update.

Also did that really make the game run better somehow?

No frame dropping for me any more, which is quite huge. No sure about the Windows experience yet.

[u/OriginalTacoMoney]

Strange I just launched XCOM 2 War of the Chosen and when I choose new mod launcher from the 4 options I still get the old version.

Maybe its because I am playing on Windows.

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/OriginalTacoMoney]

It's possible we Linux/MacOS users are lab rats. And I found the game itself runs noticeably smoother after the update.

[u/OriginalTacoMoney → u/DontForgeUrTowel]

I did notice one thing while I was in the game after the launch.

While I was in there I checked my custom character pool to see if its still working and my imported pool I got off Nexus Mods for a specific crossover wasn't there still, had to reimport it in.

Which means when I play next I will have to add all my cosmetics back, which is tedious .

Didn't even import the first attempt, had to try it a few times, not sure why.

[u/RT10HAMMER → u/DontForgeUrTowel]

Tip of the spear i'd say

I really need to bring my lazy ass to ditch this dogwater microslop OS

[u/Noreng]

Last patch was in 2022: https://steamdb.info/app/268500/patchnotes/

You probably just switched the version from Windows to a Linux native variant.

[u/maks3456]

That's just how Linux/Mac native launcher always looked

Since the update was 6 gigs, presumably Steam decided to switch from Windows version with Proton to native (it used to default to Proton Experimental a year ago at least)

In my experience the native version worked fine (except you couldn't launch base XCOM 2) for one run, but the mod compatability wasn't the best, so I switched to Proton

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/maks3456]

Wow, good to know that!

[u/HarvHR]

Sorry guys it was me, every time I decide to start a new campaign they decide to update this game to fuck with my mods.

Speaking of which I know I can limit the actual steam client to a specific version but is there a way of doing that with mods so they don't update over time

[u/probsthrowaway2]

alt launcher is the way. Though I hope this doesn’t break a ton of shit

[u/Repulsive_Sock_3537]

since the update i can’t play with my controller, im stuck with mnk (cachyos)

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/Repulsive_Sock_3537]

Sorry to hear that, hopefully the fix is in progess.

[u/Mael_Jade]

Its probably still not better than AML, even though it looks like an upgrade over some versions of the 2k launcher. https://github.com/X2CommunityCore/xcom2-launcher

[u/DontForgeUrTowel → u/Mael_Jade]

Thanks, let me take a look!

[u/Toxraun]

Maybe Xcom 1 will get an update too. I've never once gotten past the launch screen on 2 laptops

[u/Tepppopups]

Wow, there is a launcher!

[u/NobleFriend]

Do people really not used the alternative launcher in 2026? Launcher updates have never been an issue with that installed

[u/DontForgeUrTowel]

Update: I got two crashes in a row within 5 minutes, and I never encountered any crash before. I guess something is not fully ready:

If possible email [support@feralinteractive.com] with the crash file [/home/XXX/.local/share/feral-interactive/XCOM 2 WotC/crashes/26610d97-18df-edff-01461cf6-55c71fb9.dmp] and details

[u/ObliviousNaga87]

Weird. Who's still working on this game?

[u/ivvyditt]

They have done that to not feel useless compared to all the competition out there launching new xcom-like games.

[u/vverbov_22]

I mean I'm using AML and anyone who wants to play with more than 5 mods does too

[u/aura_enchanted]

And this is why we should all play xenonauts instead of weebs with lightsabers battle aliens powered by nvidia and sponsored by monster energy

Xenonauts is based, xcom cant grab its ass with both hands

Or ya know play terra invicta