Owlcat Games added a proprietary launcher to Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader on June 22, 2026 - and pulled it back off less than 19 hours later after one of the swiftest and most decisive player revolts in recent CRPG memory.
What the Owlcat Launcher Was Supposed to Do
Owlcat announced on Monday, June 22, that it would be releasing its own PC launcher for all its games, including news, patches, and content add-ons readily accessible in one place. The developers said the launcher would serve as a hub, allowing players to stay up to date with the latest news while getting into the game as quickly as ever.
Owlcat's stated reasoning was rooted in cross-promotion. The studio noted that with multiple new unannounced RPGs already in production, being able to reach players was crucial - and that, according to its research, a surprisingly large portion of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous players who expressed a desire to play a "similar CRPG" had never even heard of Rogue Trader. The launcher was also intended to keep players current with upcoming projects like Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
On paper, the launcher did not require mandatory registration and offered options to change how it works - players could even turn it off.
The Backlash
In practice, the player response was brutal. Despite Owlcat's intentions, player feedback was largely negative, with the announcement post receiving no upvotes on Steam and thousands of mostly critical comments. Over the following 24 hours, more than 160 negative reviews were added to Rogue Trader on Steam, with the vast majority pointing to the launcher.
The technical reality made things worse. Some players claimed that Rogue Trader would not even launch through it, that the launcher itself took up more processing power, and that even if players chose to disable it, it would still run in the background. Owlcat community manager Starrok, posting on the Rogue Trader subreddit, explained that the launcher continued to operate in the background so that Steam could properly record game time - without the launcher running, Steam would no longer track hours played, and a background process was used as a "band-aid fix."
Players also complained that the update broke the game for those still on older versions who had declined to update.
The Rollback
After an incredibly brief existence, Owlcat completely rolled back the launcher from Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. The studio posted a three-sentence announcement on Steam:
"Lord Captains, we hear you and we are rolling back the launcher. The game will now revert to the previous patch, completely removing any Launcher-related changes. Thank you for your feedback, and genuinely sorry for the frustration caused."
All told, the Owlcat Launcher lived for approximately 19 hours. It is not the studio's first controversy of this kind - back in 2023, fan pushback forced Owlcat to strip a data-collection tool out of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
The quick turnaround has at least put Owlcat back in some fans' good graces, with several comments on the rollback announcement thanking the company for its swift decision. Some players noted, however, that after this incident, the studio's actions would be closely monitored going forward.
What's Next for Owlcat
Owlcat is currently working on several projects, including "multiple new unannounced RPGs already in production." A new DLC for Rogue Trader - The Infinite Museion - released on June 11. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is slated for 2027, while Dark Heresy does not yet have a release date.
The launcher saga is a sharp reminder that player trust, especially for a studio whose reputation rests on deep, fan-driven CRPGs, is harder to rebuild than it is to lose. Owlcat listened fast - and that speed is the only thing that kept this from being a much longer-running story.
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