Remove the Paradox Launcher From Prison Architect

Please note: this will not work on Mac and Linux.

This is tested on Windows 10, but it will probably also work on Windows 8, 7 and Vista.

Step 1: Uninstall the Paradox Launcher

Go to control panel, and uninstall the Paradox Launcher, if the launcher is not there, you can skip this step.

Step 2: Create a .bat file

Go to the Prison Architect folder, to find the folder, right click on Prison Architect in your Steam library, then manage, and then browse local files.

Turn on file extensions, to do this click on the view tab on Windows 10 and tools on Windows 7.

Create a text file, and rename it to “PrisonArchitect64.bat”, make sure it ends with “.bat”

Step 3: Edit the .bat file

Right click on PrisonArchitect64.bat and click on edit, in notepad, paste the following:

start “” “Prison Architect64.exe” %command%

And save the file.

Note: launch options (example -noWorkshop) need to be placed between “start “” “Prison Architect64.exe” and “%command%” in the PrisonArchitect64.bat file and not in the launch options in Steam.

Step 4: Integrate the .bat file with Steam.

Right click on Prison Architect in your Steam library, and then on Properties. Enter this in “Launch Options”:

PrisonArchitect64.bat %command%

You should now be able to play Prison Architect without the Paradox Launcher.

If you see the command prompt before Prison Architect opens, this is normal, this is the .bat file.

Note: If the launcher try’s to install itself, remove it and try step 4 again.

Note: Steam Overlay will not work.

Step 5 (optional, but recommended): Delete the launcher completely:

In the Prison Architect folder (where you have created the .bat file) you can find the folder “Launcher“, where you can find “launcher-installer-windows.msi” Delete this, and create a text-file and rename it to: “launcher-installer-windows.msi”. Make sure it ends with “.msi”. After that, right click on “launcher-installer-windows.msi” then “Properties” and then click on “Read-Only” And then apply.

This will make sure the launcher can’t redownload itself during a update.

Note: This may not work in the future, if Paradox decides to screw us over further.

Note: For Mac users, you can use Bootcamp to make a dualboot with Windows 10.

Based on the Remove Paradox Launcher from Cities:Skylines Guide.