Playnite

Project Overview

Playnite is like putting Steam, Epic, GOG, EA App and Battle.net launchers on one shelf, except that it merges platform games, emulated games and local programs into one searchable, filterable library and keeps the data on your own machine. It is written in C# with WPF, ships separate desktop and fullscreen interfaces, and extends outward through library plugins, metadata plugins, PowerShell scripts and themes.

Item	Value
Type	Game library manager and launcher
Platform	Windows 10 / 11
Version	10.64
Runtime	.NET Framework 4.6.2, win-x86
License	MIT

One shelf for every platform, with library data staying on your own PC.

Key Features

• Multi-platform aggregation: library plugins import account and installed games from Steam, Epic, GOG, EA App, Battle.net and others
• Unified launching: start games from one interface, with playtime and last played time recorded automatically
• Metadata management: fills in covers, backgrounds, summaries, release dates, scores and tags, then filters by platform, genre or completion status
• Emulation support: 95 platform definitions and 96 emulator profiles, with ROM folder scanning and per-platform grouping
• Fullscreen mode: a separate interface built for large screens and controllers, suited to browsing from the couch
• Desktop mode: list, grid and details views, with multi-column sorting, custom fields and batch editing
• Plugin system: four extension kinds, GenericPlugin, GameLibrary, MetadataProvider and Script, covering library access, metadata sources and automation
• Theme customization: desktop and fullscreen load theme packages separately, with swappable fonts, colors and layouts
• Backup and restore: library data, settings and plugin configuration can be packed into a backup and restored later

Plugins and Extensions

• Library plugins: connect a third-party account or local client to the library, sharing the same fields as local games
• Metadata plugins: replace or supplement cover, summary and score sources, with several enabled at once
• Script plugins: run PowerShell scripts on game start, exit and other events
• UI themes: distributed as .pthm packages while extensions use .pext, with manifests named theme.yaml and extension.yaml

Target Audience

• Players hoarding games across stores
• Couch players using a controller
• Collectors of emulator ROM sets
• People wanting one tidy game library
• Users automating their launch flow

Quick Start

1. Run Playnite1064.exe to install, or extract the 10.64.7z portable package and start it directly
2. Open the library manager, pick the platforms to connect, sign in and tick the games to import
3. Let metadata download finish, then combine platform, genre and tag filters to browse
4. Browse the add-on window to install themes, metadata plugins or scripts, and update installed add-ons there
5. Switch to fullscreen mode for couch play and launch games with a controller
6. If something crashes, create a diagnostics package from the About Playnite menu and attach it to the report

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Windows 10 or Windows 11
Runtime	.NET Framework 4.6.2
Architecture	x86 (32-bit process)
Package	Installer about 145 MB, portable 7z about 134 MB

Notes

• Library plugins need upkeep: each platform interface is implemented by its plugin, so renew the plugin when a login or endpoint changes
• Data location follows install type: the installer keeps data in %AppData%/Playnite, the portable build writes into its own program folder
• Controller mapping relies on a database: fullscreen gamepad buttons come from gamecontrollerdb.txt, so unusual controllers may need extra mappings
• Metadata depends on third parties: covers and summaries come from external sources, which can leave gaps when a source changes