It is sad that you have to keep the launcher running while playing. I would rather used the storefront apps to update the games only. And launch the exe direct

It is sad that you have to keep the launcher running while playing. I would rather used the storefront apps to update the games only. And launch the exe directly from Windows desktop or start menu. There are a few games that allow this, for example Cyberpunk 2077 and Control. I sometimes refund games if they are obnoxious with letting me launch them from the start menu.