🎮 Game Launcher

A lightweight desktop application that brings your game library and emulators under one roof.

Features • Getting Started • Configuration • Changelog

Overview

Game Launcher is an Electron + React application that lets you manage and launch games across multiple platforms from a single, clean interface.

Supported Platforms

• RPCS3 (PS3 Emulator)
• PCSX2 (PS2 Emulator)
• GOG
• Steam

Features

• Launch emulators and game clients directly from the app
• Add and manage the current active games per platform
• Game list reordering within each column
• Last played timestamp tracking
• Play time tracking across all platforms (RPCS3, PCSX2, GOG, Steam)
• Hybrid Steam launch - choose per-game between Steam ID (anti-cheat safe) or Direct EXE
• Platform icons next to game titles indicating launch type
• Persistent game library via local storage
• Clean, modern dark UI

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18 or higher
• npm

Installation

git clone https://github.com/elysiummachines/react-game-launcher.git
cd react-game-launcher
npm install

Configuration

Edit src/config.js to set the paths to your local emulator and launcher executables. This file is not included in the repository - you'll need to create it based on where your emulators are installed. Example src/config.js:

export const paths = {

• rpcs3: "C:/Emulators/RPCS3/rpcs3.exe",
• pcsx2: "C:/Emulators/PCSX2/pcsx2-qt.exe",
• gog: "C:/Program Files (x86)/GOG Galaxy/GalaxyClient.exe",
};

Note: Steam games do not require a path in config.js. Steam ID mode uses the steam:// protocol which works automatically if Steam is installed. Direct EXE mode uses the game's exe path which you enter when adding the game.

Adding Steam Games

Steam ID mode (recommended for games with anti-cheat):

• Select the 🛡️ Steam ID toggle
• Enter the game name
• Enter the Steam App ID - found in the game's store URL (e.g. store.steampowered.com/app/730/ → 730)
• Enter the process name from Task Manager → Details tab (e.g. cs2.exe, TheCallistoProtocol.exe)

Direct EXE mode (for games without anti-cheat requirements):

• Select the 📁 Direct EXE toggle
• Enter the game name
• Enter the full path to the game's .exe file

Security Notice

Running npm audit will report vulnerabilities in webpack-dev-server via react-scripts. These are dev-only dependencies and are not bundled into the production .exe. End users are not affected. This is a known limitation of Create React App which is no longer actively maintained. Migration to Vite is planned for a future release.

Development

npm run dev

Starts the React dev server and Electron together.

Production Build

npm run dist

Outputs installer and portable .exe to the dist/ folder.

Project Structure

game-launcher/
├── assets/          # Electron app icons
├── public/          # Static files
├── src/             # React source
│   ├── assets/      # Platform icons
│   ├── App.js       # Main UI component
│   └── config.js    # Launcher paths config
├── main.js          # Electron main process
└── preload.js       # Electron preload bridge

Configuration

Edit src/config.js to point to your local emulator and launcher executables.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history.

License

MIT