Launching the .exe directly doesn’t work. Or, rather, it works too well, opening both a Mono and IL2CPP version of the game at the same time. Using the steam launcher avoids this issue. Creating a shortcut to this exe does not.
This has been the case since 0.9.7P2 (IIRC), but I got into the habit of using steam so I didn’t notice it kept being a problem.
I’m running the game on Windows 10 x86 is that’s relevant.
This is how Steam works. It intercepts the request and assumes you’re launching the default game.
Ah, so this is unfixable? It’s not a huge deal, but having to launch via steam instead of desktop shortcut is a nuisance.
One thing you could try (if you’re planning on mainly running the Mono version), is to select this in the Steam client. Maybe it will be smart enough to at least know to launch the Mono version?
Already had that option enabled 
