diff --git a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/README.md b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/README.md
index fdacd16..962c136 100644
--- a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/README.md
+++ b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/README.md
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ Do **not** embed a shared admin PAT in a shipped `launcher.json`. Prefer read-on
 
 ## Patch versions (same filenames, different bytes)
 
-The launcher does **not** read Git commits. For **turn-key** updates when asset names stay fixed (`patch-Z.MPQ`, `Wow-patched.exe`, …):
+The launcher does **not** read Git commits. For **turn-key** updates when asset names stay fixed (e.g. **`Wow-patched.exe`** — add more **`files`** entries for any extra MPQs you ship):
 
 1. Ship **`patch-manifest.json`** next to those files on **every** release (Gitea/GitHub attachment). It lists a **`version`** label (any string you bump per release, e.g. `v0.9.0-client`) and a **`sha256`** per **`files[].source`** name.
 2. With **`patch_manifest.enabled`**: true (default in **`default-launcher.json`**), **Download updates** first fetches the manifest from the same release channel. If the files already on disk match those checksums, the player sees **“already match build … (nothing to download)”** — no redundant downloads.
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ If **`patch-manifest.json`** is missing on a release, the launcher falls back to
 
 ```bash
 cd /path/to/staging
-node tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client patch-Z.MPQ Wow-patched.exe > patch-manifest.json
+node tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client Wow-patched.exe > patch-manifest.json
 ```
 
 Attach **`patch-manifest.json`** together with the MPQ/exe to the GitHub release (CI sync copies it to Gitea with everything else).
diff --git a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/default-launcher.json b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/default-launcher.json
index 0f40c9f..b084a24 100644
--- a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/default-launcher.json
+++ b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/default-launcher.json
@@ -22,12 +22,6 @@
     "from_release": true
   },
   "files": [
-    {
-      "source": "patch-Z.MPQ",
-      "dest": "Data/patch-Z.MPQ",
-      "backup": true,
-      "from_release": true
-    },
     {
       "source": "Wow-patched.exe",
       "dest": "Wow.exe",
diff --git a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/lib/config-store.js b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/lib/config-store.js
index 54ef7b3..4610a6d 100644
--- a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/lib/config-store.js
+++ b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/lib/config-store.js
@@ -3,6 +3,23 @@
 const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs').promises;
 
+/** Sources no longer shipped; drop from merged files so old launcher.json does not keep fetching them. */
+const DEPRECATED_FILE_SOURCES = new Set(['patch-Z.MPQ']);
+
+function mergeFilesList(defaults, user) {
+  const raw =
+    Array.isArray(user.files) && user.files.length ? user.files.map((e) => ({ ...e })) : defaults.files.map((e) => ({ ...e }));
+  const filtered = raw.filter((e) => !DEPRECATED_FILE_SOURCES.has(String(e && e.source ? e.source : '').trim()));
+  if (filtered.length) return filtered;
+  return defaults.files.map((e) => ({ ...e }));
+}
+
+function userFilesContainDeprecated(user) {
+  const files = user && user.files;
+  if (!Array.isArray(files)) return false;
+  return files.some((e) => DEPRECATED_FILE_SOURCES.has(String(e && e.source ? e.source : '').trim()));
+}
+
 function mergeConfig(defaults, user) {
   return {
     ...defaults,
@@ -21,7 +38,7 @@ function mergeConfig(defaults, user) {
     launch: { ...defaults.launch, ...(user.launch || {}) },
     auth: user.auth != null ? { ...defaults.auth, ...user.auth } : defaults.auth,
     realmlist: user.realmlist != null ? { ...defaults.realmlist, ...user.realmlist } : defaults.realmlist,
-    files: Array.isArray(user.files) && user.files.length ? user.files : defaults.files,
+    files: mergeFilesList(defaults, user),
   };
 }
 
@@ -60,7 +77,11 @@ async function loadConfig(app) {
   const defaults = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(defPath, 'utf8'));
   try {
     const user = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(p, 'utf8'));
-    return { configPath: p, config: applyBakedGitea(mergeConfig(defaults, user)) };
+    const config = applyBakedGitea(mergeConfig(defaults, user));
+    if (userFilesContainDeprecated(user)) {
+      await fs.writeFile(p, JSON.stringify(config, null, 2), 'utf8');
+    }
+    return { configPath: p, config };
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.code === 'ENOENT') {
       const initial = applyBakedGitea(mergeConfig(defaults, {}));
diff --git a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/package.json b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/package.json
index 5b77335..1d99b41 100644
--- a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/package.json
+++ b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "fractured-launcher-electron",
-  "version": "1.0.3",
+  "version": "1.0.4",
   "description": "Fractured WoW launcher (Electron) — no console window, native folder picker, auto-update",
   "main": "main.js",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/generate-patch-manifest.js b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/generate-patch-manifest.js
index ac6e66d..53f4796 100644
--- a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/generate-patch-manifest.js
+++ b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/generate-patch-manifest.js
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 /**
  * Build patch-manifest.json for a release (same names as files[].source in launcher.json).
  *
- * Usage (from a folder containing the patch binaries):
- *   node generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client patch-Z.MPQ Wow-patched.exe
+ * Usage (from a folder containing the patch binaries — list every files[].source name):
+ *   node generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client Wow-patched.exe
  *
  * Prints JSON to stdout — redirect to file:
- *   node generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client patch-Z.MPQ Wow-patched.exe > patch-manifest.json
+ *   node generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client Wow-patched.exe > patch-manifest.json
  */
 'use strict';
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ const version = process.argv[2];
 const names = process.argv.slice(3);
 if (!version || names.length === 0) {
   console.error('Usage: generate-patch-manifest.js <version-label> <file1> [file2 ...]');
-  console.error('  Example: generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client patch-Z.MPQ Wow-patched.exe');
+  console.error('  Example: generate-patch-manifest.js v0.9.0-client Wow-patched.exe');
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/publish-to-distro.sh b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/publish-to-distro.sh
index 235cc76..f008d12 100755
--- a/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/publish-to-distro.sh
+++ b/tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/publish-to-distro.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 # Usage (from repo root or this directory):
 #   export GH_TOKEN=ghp_...   # PAT with repo/releases on the distro repo
-#   ./tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/publish-to-distro.sh v1.0.0 patch-Z.MPQ Wow-patched.exe
+#   ./tools/fractured-launcher-electron/scripts/publish-to-distro.sh v1.0.0 Wow-patched.exe
 #
 # Optional:
 #   DISTRO_REPO=YourOrg/Fratured-Distro   # if your GitHub slug differs