PURPLE does not reuse the Steam install, but it does accept its own install moved elsewhere

What people say

Steam and PURPLE, NCSOFT’s launcher, install the same client. So it seems logical to show PURPLE the Steam folder and skip the download.

What happens

It does not work. I tested it on 20 and 21 October on my Steam Machine with Windows 11:

Test	What happened
Choosing the Steam folder, steamapps\common\AION2, in PURPLE	It does not recognise it
A symbolic link steamapps\common\AION 2 → AION2	Neither: it creates its own folder and downloads the whole game, about 82 GB
Moving an existing PURPLE install to another folder	It works: it recognises it in seconds, without downloading anything

With PURPLE, the settings are also saved in %LOCALAPPDATA%\AION2\Saved_Global\ and not in Saved_Steam\. Graphics settings do not carry over: you have to set them again.

And switching launcher does not fix the graphics card crashes. On 20 October it crashed four times with PURPLE, at 21:01, 22:13, 22:16 and 22:25, with the same DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED as with Steam that same afternoon.

What to do

• If you want both launchers, expect two full downloads: they do not share files.
• To move PURPLE to another drive: close it from the tray, move the folder (mine is in C:\PURPLE\AION 2), open it, press “Install” and choose that folder.
• When you start using PURPLE, go over the graphics settings.
• Do not switch launcher because of the crashes: it has not helped me.

How it will be verified

If a PURPLE or Steam update changes this, I will test the link to the Steam folder again. And I will keep counting crashes with PURPLE against those with Steam.