diff --git a/game-app/game-core/src/main/java/games/strategy/engine/framework/startup/ui/panels/main/game/selector/GameSelectorModel.java b/game-app/game-core/src/main/java/games/strategy/engine/framework/startup/ui/panels/main/game/selector/GameSelectorModel.java
index 59c1690d9ba..9c28ee18a29 100644
--- a/game-app/game-core/src/main/java/games/strategy/engine/framework/startup/ui/panels/main/game/selector/GameSelectorModel.java
+++ b/game-app/game-core/src/main/java/games/strategy/engine/framework/startup/ui/panels/main/game/selector/GameSelectorModel.java
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@
 import games.strategy.engine.framework.startup.mc.ClientModel;
 import games.strategy.engine.framework.startup.mc.GameSelector;
 import games.strategy.triplea.settings.ClientSetting;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.InvalidPathException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Observable;
@@ -188,14 +191,26 @@ public void loadDefaultGameSameThread() {
     gameUri
         .filter(Predicate.not(String::isBlank))
         .filter(GameSelectorModel::gameUriExistsOnFileSystem)
-        .map(Path::of)
+        .map(GameSelectorModel::pathFromGameUri)
         .ifPresentOrElse(this::load, this::resetDefaultGame);
   }
 
+  private static Path pathFromGameUri(final String gameUri) {
+    if (gameUri.startsWith("file:")) {
+      try {
+        return Path.of(new URI(gameUri));
+      } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+        throw new InvalidPathException(gameUri, e.getReason());
+      }
+    } else {
+      return Path.of(gameUri);
+    }
+  }
+
   @SuppressWarnings("ReturnValueIgnored")
   private static boolean gameUriExistsOnFileSystem(final String gameUri) {
     try {
-      final Path gameFile = Path.of(gameUri);
+      final Path gameFile = pathFromGameUri(gameUri);
 
       // starts with check is because we don't want to load a game file by default that is not
       // within