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I am executing Skyrim through Steam Big Picture with the controller but when I select Play on Big Picture, the launcher of the game appears and I have to use the mouse to start to play. This is very annoying and I would like to start to play avoiding this step.

I have seen that you can set parameters to the laucher on Big Picture mode.

This question seems to be duplicate, but this problem is slightly different because I need to open the game through the current executable to be able to get new achivements and to accumulate playing hours.

UPDATE: I am using a computer just to play games, so Steam opens at start with Big Picture Mode, so I Boot the computer and I can start to play only using my controller. The problem is that the launcher doesn't work with the controller and I have to use the mouse just for it.

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    Please note that any method that disables the launcher will also disable automated mod version checks and updates, since this happens through the launcher.
    – Nzall
    Jul 23, 2014 at 13:26
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    So if I understand correctly, you want way to launch the game through Big picture mode (so steam records hours/achievements), but you want to skip the Launcher window?
    – Wipqozn ♦
    Jul 24, 2014 at 11:16
  • Yes, That is what I need because I have to use the mouse to click to the Play option, and is very annoying to use the mouse only for that. Actually, I don't have a mouse, just a touchPad.
    – JCalcines
    Jul 25, 2014 at 9:36

4 Answers 4

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  1. Go to your Skyrim installation folder. The folder is usually under "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\data" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\data" depending on your system. In the folder, there should be two executable files named "SkyrimLauncher" and "TESV".

  2. Rename "SkyrimLauncher" to "Launcher".

  3. Rename "TESV" to "SkyrimLauncher".

Skyrim will now start immediately without entering the launcher.

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  • I'm not sure if this will work, so you are changing the executable and maybe steam notice that but I will try it.
    – JCalcines
    Jul 24, 2014 at 9:24
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    This solution works properly. I even get an achivement to check if everything was all right.
    – JCalcines
    Jul 25, 2014 at 9:50
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    +1 - Also confirmed that this works. Was hoping to do this so that I can launch through my HTPC without keyboard interaction.
    – Joseph Ferris
    May 8, 2015 at 18:27
  • For me, Steam verifies the main executable as soon as I try to launch it, and re-downloads the launcher.
    – Ben Visness
    Mar 1, 2018 at 0:41
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As far as I know, neither Skyrim nor steam have any direct options to do this.

As a workaround, you could use the Skyrim Script Extender to launch the game.
You can add the SKSE to your steam library as a non steam game, then change the tile to the one from Skyrim and hide the original Skyrim in a Category.

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  • Why install a program that makes the game potentially unstable if it is enough to rename the files?
    – user28015
    Jul 23, 2014 at 18:22
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    As far as I know there are no issues with SKSE. Also, usually you would want to install some mods anyway and most of them need SKSE. If you rename the file, I suspect that anything that causes steam to validate the game files will revert the changes.
    – Michael K
    Jul 23, 2014 at 22:50
  • Proper mods don't need SKSE. Also, it is untrustworthy software and can jeopardize your steam account.
    – user28015
    Jul 23, 2014 at 23:27
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    Please define "Proper mods". Many of the most used mods require SKSE. Just to give an example, SkyUI (nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863/?), one of the most downloaded Skyrim mods needs it. "it is untrustworthy software and can jeopardize your steam account" I never heard of that happening. Can you back this up with a source?
    – Michael K
    Jul 24, 2014 at 0:18
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    Proper Mods = Those that do not rely on dirty hacks like SKSE and are in the Steam Workshop.
    – user28015
    Jul 24, 2014 at 2:17
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You can copy/rename the files so that the real game executable is named SkyrimLauncher.exe

Works for me.

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For the most part, @randomdude's answer works perfectly.

In my case, I was playing the Special Edition version and installed it to a completely different place.

Wherever you chose to install your games, just locate the folder with steamapps/common/[Your version of skyrim, in my case, Skyrim Special Edition]

Update SkyrimSE.exe -> SkyrimSELauncher.exe and SkyrimSELauncher to SkyrimSE.

So:

steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition/SkyrimSE.exe -> steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition/SkyrimSELauncher.exe

steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition/SkyrimSELauncher.exe -> steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition/SkyrimSE.exe

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