The good news is that for players who don’t like Civilization 7, the PC version of Civilization 7 will no longer require the 2K launcher, and the Steam version of Civilization 6 has just done the same thing.

You! Do you find that having nine million different launchers installed simultaneously on your PC is something that keeps you up at night? If so, there’s good news, as Firaxis has confirmed that Civilization VII will no longer require the 2K launcher on PC, something Civilization VI just ditched as well, assuming you purchased your copy on Steam.

While I don’t think 2K’s launcher is the worst, even by low standards, it’s always annoying to have to log into an extra program just to play a game you didn’t even try to play through the associated service or storefront, so unsurprisingly, this move was met with a mix of cheers and sighs of relief.

“With the launch of Challenge 10 on August 14, the new update will also remove the 2K Launcher from Sid Meier’s Civilization VI on Steam,” Firaxis confirmed in its Steam announcement regarding the latest Civilization VI event. “In addition, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will not use the 2K Launcher on PC.”

The studio also broke the news to the world-conquering hordes on the game’s Reddit subreddit, with a community manager revealing that they’re also “planning to [the] epic [Store] In the near future”.

The top responses to the latter statement all began with the words “Thank God,” and yes, that seems to be correct.

So now you’re free to spend all your time playing Civilization VI and finally completing your epic takeover of the world as fascist Canada, hell-bent on spreading the teachings of Zoroastrianism and building holy sites and theater squares every two tiles before Civilization VII debuts its first gameplay reveal on August 20.

It will then be unveiled during Gamescom 2024’s Opening Night Live, and we’ll have plenty of coverage for you to check out.