Piracy

It's not just about the launcher, it's about the fact that you no longer "own" the software you buy. In the previous era, you bought a disc from GameStop\Walmart\EB Games\etc and you owned the software. As long as that game disk worked, you could install it and play it forever if you wanted. The only DRM was there in an attempt to prevent you from copying the disc and giving it to someone else.

Now, you have game launchers with DRM that requires you to have an active internet connection to play the game- even if it's a fucking single player title with no multiplayer component whatsoever.

What's worse, you have clauses hidden in the EULA's that allows the publishers to disable access to the game if they decide to. Worse still, they can just decide in the future that it's no longer profitable for them to host the game on their platform, and then you can no longer download it to play it if a bout of nostalgia kicks in.

It's absolutely ridiculous that you can buy something, and then be told at a later time that even though you purchased the game, you are no longer allowed to play it even though you've done nothing wrong(like cheating in a MP game resulting in a ban I can get).

So it's not just about the "free" launchers, it's about what they ultimately represent...a loss of individual ownership of the products you purchase.