Hello Silvonis,
I'm sure your aware of this but if not, I figured I would mention it.
For MMORPG titles that exist on Steam, a lot of players on the Steam platform judge the success of an MMO by the number of reviews and the size of the playerbase in
Steamstats. If that misguided audience doesn't see a large playerbase, they won't even bother to purchase it. They are already calling "300" players a dead game (because it doesn't include Alpha launcher player figures) and in my countless attempts to defend the game, that mindset has proven difficult to argue and it's hurting the image of Project Gorgon already.
My worry is that if a launcher were to exist outside of the Steam platform, it would further reduce those numbers and in turn hurt your chances of sales on the Steam platform. These 'false playerbase figures' are something that has hurt Wildstar (among other things) since it's launch on Steam. If it can be avoided, I would recommend sticking with the Steam launcher.
Also, on Reddit a vast majority of the jaded MMORPG audience has stated that they are unwilling to pay $40 for a title in Early Access. Have you considered offering a 'DEMO' on Steam that would allow players to log in an play JUST the tutorial island? I know that they all had the opportunity to try it for free for the last 3 years but the launch of Early Access seems to have players more interested in trying out a product that's finally entered BETA.
Anyway, if you cannot tell already I really want to see Project: Gorgon succeed. I hope that good fortune helps to find you a larger dev team and all the platform improvements the team has ever dreamed of. Keep up the good work!