What does the launcher do with regard to the operation of the game that cannot be done within the actual game itself? Is it due to a technical limitation or simply there for the convenience of the players? Are there alternatives to such methods of starting the execution of games?
Minecraft is special. The launcher sets up a bunch of Java stuff and other game configurations. And it downloads updates and handles authentication. Technically you don’t need it, but it makes it a little easier for the developers and the users. There are also third party launchers with additional functionality like downloading mods.
Other games often pretend they need that stuff when in reality they just want some more tracking that is not in the game itself.
For that matter, if you poke around in some games’ files, you can find the actual game.exe and launch it directly from there, bypassing the launcher. You just bypass the authentication and compatibility checking as well.
This also works with any Unity game which prefers to launch through a launcher.
If it’s an online game, like an MMO, they might put your account on timeout if you keep playing some outdated version of the game, though.
I’m honestly surprised you can even connect to an MMO with an out-of-date client. On the few I’ve played, at least, a version mismatch is an automatic refusal to connect.
I’ve had Black Desert letting me play a bit with an outdated version (I didn’t know there were updates, I hadn’t used the launcher for a while) but it gave my account a time out of 10 days after my play session.
I was also surprised it didn’t just go “Nope, update first!” immediately, I kind of expected that would be the case if I didn’t use the launcher.
That, my friends, is also how you play games from the epic store. And how to bypass steam as well.
Doesn’t work with every game, though. Some have DRM that depends on the launcher and/or authentication.