Nexus Launcher 0.5.0

Xodus Nexus is now Nexus Launcher. This release introduces managed Standard and CachyOS runtime families, expanded account management and coordinated component updates, alongside improvements to game launching, authentication, licensing and cloud saves.

Runtime and component management

• Manage Standard and optional CachyOS runtimes independently in Settings.
• Select the runtime family per game. Standard remains the default.
• Allow changing a game's runtime selection while downloads or game updates are running.
• Add coordinated updates for the launcher, backend and installed runtime families, with clearer progress, individual results and recovery from partial failures.
• Show update notifications only when component updates are actually available.
• Improve handling of incomplete or damaged component packages.

Accounts and authentication

• Add optional management of multiple Store accounts and a separate Xbox player account.
• Keep the default single-account setup simple, with advanced account controls available when enabled.
• Preserve independent Xbox player sessions when switching Store accounts.
• Bind library access, licensing and launch preparation more accurately to the active account.
• Improve sign-in discovery for games with different executable layouts.
• Reduce duplicate authorization, token and signing-certificate requests.
• Improve cancellation and timeout handling for authentication and licensing operations.
• Improve compatibility with persisted Windows signing keys and certificates.
• Provide clearer Xbox authentication errors without exposing credentials.

Home, Library and Store

• Add Recently installed and official PC Game Pass additions sections to Home.
• Offer installation only when the active Store account has verified access.
• Fix duplicate featured offers and improve edition and bundle handling.
• Expand paid-game browsing and fix catalog pagination loops.
• Show available installation-space or download-size estimates on game details, without treating unknown sizes as zero.
• Keep size lookups scoped to the current account and ignore stale responses after account changes.
• Show Play instead of another installation action for games already installed.

DLC and licensing

• Fix content bundles being reported as license-only offers.
• Fix source and destination path mapping for add-on content, including SRC layout metadata.

Game launching and runtime compatibility

• Launch games through the runtime's Proton session so its game preparation, compatibility fixes and supported options are applied.
• Pass game paths and launch context more accurately.
• Preserve explicit user settings, including large-address-aware options and custom EAC runtime paths.
• Improve shader-cache handling without overriding custom environment settings.
• Bind Xbox playing activity more accurately to the authenticated game.
• Improve WinHTTP request cancellation and connection lifetime handling.

Cloud saves

• Fix initialization through the legacy GameSave interface when a game relies on the configuration ID declared in its manifest.
• Improve recoverable local save transactions and interrupted-operation handling.
• Preserve local save data when an index cannot be read, and reject malformed indexes before changing data.
• Prevent older operations from overwriting newer save state.
• Report failed writes and deletions instead of treating them as successful synchronization.

Interface, controls and performance

• Remove excessive empty scrolling space from Home, Settings, installation pages and game details.
• Simplify redundant informational text and make profile controls more compact.
• Improve controller navigation and focus recovery in search and player menus.
• Improve recovery of game artwork in Xbox profiles and handling of missing images.
• Load Social interface modules on demand.
• Reduce repeated Store requests and improve startup metadata loading and Library persistence.
• Fix log text containing terminal hyperlinks.

Translations

• Add Swedish, thanks @kimpoliini.
• Update existing community translations and newly added interface text.

Updating

Install the accompanying launcher, backend and runtime updates to receive the complete set of fixes. Existing games, accounts, settings, prefixes and saves are preserved.

Steam Deck and similar handhelds

Steam Deck and similar handheld support is experimental. I'm currently testing and debugging on virtualized SteamOS and Bazzite, so I can't fully verify how everything behaves on real handheld hardware. Please report any issues you encounter.

I'm looking to buy an older Steam Deck or a similar handheld compatible with Bazzite or SteamOS for development and testing. If you have one you'd be willing to sell, please message me on Reddit at u/Embarrassed-Hall-617. Cosmetic damage and signs of wear don't matter, as long as the device's basic functions work.

Contributions

Special thanks to:

• @Juancafr for the foundation of separate Store and Xbox player accounts and saved Store-account management, adapted from #521.
• @thewalldao for the PlayFab Party cryptographic compatibility fixes, including NCrypt ECDSA keys, self-signed certificates and Schannel support, contributed in nexus-wine#9.
• @kimpoliini for adding Swedish translations in #525.

Thanks to everyone contributing translations, bug reports, logs and game compatibility testing.

Contributions are welcome:

• Report bugs or request features.
• Help translate Nexus Launcher on Tolgee.
• Contribute code or documentation.

Please include component versions and reproduction steps when reporting a problem.