Wouldn't it be nice if the game automatically opened after the update completed. I think it would give new users a better feel first starting the game. Not all, but I'd say most games start up automatically after their updates. Just a thought...

Perhaps add launcher options to toggle auto-start and maybe configurations for video, sound, and etc.

Make it a checkbox, so that people who want to read the patchnotes can do so right there where it's convenient without having to log all the way in and remembering to look at the in-game news thing that I don't trust to be always updated anyway.

Yeah, optional please.
I also like to read the patch notes.

Maybe make it so you can click the "Play" button while its updating to have it automatically open after updating, like Steam does.

+1 for the check box provided that it only prevents loading when there is a new update.

Otherwise, it is rather stupid to select click on a game to startup only to have it pause and require player input to resume loading. It is also rather silly that even though a users system can be up to date, it still goes through the download / install process before giving a player the option to continue.