LaunchBox for Windows 13.25 Known Issues

[AstroBob]

⚠️ Known Issues in LaunchBox 13.25
Thanks again to everyone who’s been reporting issues since the 13.25 release. We want to be transparent about some reported issues, why it happened, and what we’re doing next.

There are three confirmed issues we’re currently tracking, and we will continue to add new ones as they are discovered. We also suggest upvoting the known issue reports, since that will subscribe you to updates, where you can stay informed on their progress

If you are aware of any other changes introduced in 13.25 that are either not working as expected or were not present in 13.25 beta-3, please let us know and we'll be sure to look into these ASAP.

 

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🎬 Steam Trailers Not Downloading

Known Issue Report
Steam Trailers Unavailable Due to New Steam API Changes

Steam trailers are currently unavailable to download in LaunchBox.

Earlier this year, Steam made changes to how trailers were exposed via their API. We addressed that change during the 13.25 beta cycle (around Beta 3), and at the time, everything was working as expected.

Unfortunately, Steam has since made additional sweeping changes, fully removing direct trailer video files and replacing them with streaming based formats (DASH/HLS and microtrailers). This happened very close to release and after beta testing had wrapped up.

What this means:

• LaunchBox no longer finds any downloadable trailers via Steam because Steam doesn’t have them available anymore
• Steam Trailers may not appear as an available media type
• Bulk imports may still show the option, but nothing will download

This one is largely bad timing, not a regression introduced by new LaunchBox code.

🔧 Next steps:
Supporting Steam trailers again will require a larger overhaul of how we retrieve and process them. This won’t be part of a small hotfix.

 

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🖼️ Big Box Background Images Not Appearing (Older Themes)

Known Issue Report
Big Box Background Images Not Appearing in Platform View

Some Big Box themes on the Platform View that rely on a specific background element, may show nothing in the background where images should appear. The element contains a number of media type priorities depending on user settings including

• Platform Theme Videos,
• Random Game Videos,
• Platform Background Fanart images
• Random Game Background Fanart images.

Important details:

• Background videos still work
• Background images do not
• Modern themes will still be affected when using this element, but are hit less hard if using multiple background layers with their own fallbacks
• Older themes that rely on this single background element are hit hardest

🔧 Next steps:
A fix has already been identified and is being tested for a hotfix.

 

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🎡 Big Box Platform Wheel Missing or Not Rendering

Known Issue Report
Big Box Platform Wheel Not Rendering Until Scrolling

Some users may see the platform wheel missing when entering a view, only appearing after scrolling.

What we know:

• Only affects old vertical coverflow style wheels
• Horizontal wheels are unaffected
• The new-styled coverflow wheels are unaffected

🔧 Next steps:
We’re actively testing a fix and expect this to be addressed alongside the background image issue.

 

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🧭 Section Sidebar Cannot Be Shown or Hidden

Some users have reported that the section sidebar can no longer be toggled on or off after updating to LaunchBox 13.25.

In this state:
    •    The menu option to show or hide the section sidebar does nothing
    •    The Ctrl + S shortcut has no effect
    •    Users who previously had the sidebar hidden may now be unable to turn it back on
    •    Users who always had the sidebar enabled may not notice the issue

Other UI toggles (such as enabling the Game Details pane) continue to work as expected.

This issue does not occur in 13.25 Beta 3 and was introduced in the final release due to an internal logic error during code cleanup.

🔧 Next steps:
The issue has already been fixed internally and is going through review. The fix will be included in an upcoming hotfix or hotfix beta.

 

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Why These Issues Slipped Through
We want to clarify this part, as we’ve seen some understandable frustration around why these issues weren’t caught during Beta 3.

In December, prior to the holiday break, we made a set of internal code cleanup changes. These were intended to be low risk, focusing on modernising syntax, improving formatting, and updating some internal disposal logic, rather than changing behaviour or adding new functionality.

Because these changes were not expected to affect runtime behaviour, and after running internal testing, we were comfortable letting them ship as part of 13.25. In hindsight, that was the mistake.

What this release has shown us is that even changes that look purely internal can still have unintended side effects, particularly in older Big Box themes that rely on legacy elements.

Going forward, we’re committing to the following:

• Any changes touching rendering or lifecycle logic will go through beta testing, regardless of perceived risk
• Internal refactors will be treated with the same caution as user-facing changes
• This may slow release cycles slightly, but it’s the right trade-off for stability

That’s on us, and we appreciate everyone’s patience while we get things back on track.

 

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What’s Next
A hotfix release is being prioritised to address:

• Background images not appearing
• Platform wheel rendering issues

Steam trailer support will require a longer term solution due to Steam’s API changes
We’ll keep this thread updated as fixes are confirmed and scheduled

Thanks for sticking with us and for the detailed reports, they genuinely help us move faster on this stuff.

[REI AYANAMI]

Hello. In addition to the errors some people have mentioned in the main forum, I'm also experiencing the issue that the background music stops playing after the song finishes. You can change the song, but if you let it finish, it stops working, and simply disabling and re-enabling the background music isn't work.

I'm also having problems with hybrid themes, like the latest "aetherial" theme. The backgrounds aren't visible, and the videos aren't displayed. They only appear on the game details screen, even with the default theme. Opacity adjustments don't work in any menu.
I've tested this on three different computers: two with Windows 11 and one with Windows 10, and the problem occurs on all of them. I'll revert to the previous beta version. Sorry if this isn't clear. I don't speak English and I'm using a translator. Thanks.

[drmalouf]

I am not sure if this is related to the issue with Big Box themes, but this is the error message I receive when trying to use the critical zone theme on the latest update. I figured I would post the error message in case it can be useful to help fix the issue. It cannot be changed to vertical wheel 4 without reverting and displaying this text.

[Blackstar00]

Still having the same problem since 13.25 beta.
Launchbox still auto importing games for windows platform, and dlc as well.

If a game has 10 dlc, then it imports them as 10 games.

Launchbox was not doing this until updating to 13.25 beta/ and official 13.25

 

[AstroBob]

I've just updated the post with a new known issue that was discovered with the sidebar. This has already been fixed and is pending the next hotfix release. We've also done some work on the music side but those may not be ready for the first hotfix, but we'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the other reports, unfortunately we haven't managed to tie any of these back to the release just yet, but we'll continue to update this post and of course once the hotfix is ready for release