One more company has put its hat in the multi-game launcher ring—or many rings at once, in this case. NC America, the American division of NCSoft that’s responsible for Blade & Soul and Guild Wars 2, announced the launch of its Purple launcher, which will start with Blade & Soul compatibility.
But folks—this isn’t just a launcher. Oh, no, this is everything a software handling another piece of software could ever dream of being. It promises absolutely major launcher features: Talk, Live, On, Store, Lounge, Multiplay, and even–I hear you holding that breath–Push Notifications.
In addition to the usual “social” of a friends list and just being able to launch your game, Purple really is trying to do everything. “Live” is an independent streaming platform that you can link directly to friends, and on the other side of ‘streaming,’ “On” lets you play your game on mobile via PC streaming. The “Store” lets you buy game items and in-game currency, and “Lounge” is the news site that lets you know when there’s new things to buy (among other updates, we’re sure).
An actual highlight of the Purple is Multiplay, which is exactly what it sounds like—it permits you to multibox with multiple accounts in a single game. The preview hints at some account limits, but it’s a small boon for those who already juggle their screens around.
The Push Notifications also look pretty nifty as well, as they integrate not just your chat updates, but in-game details you may want to know, such as loot and statuses. No more sifting through your chat and in-game notification systems for a single event.
If that sounds like a lot for one launcher for a company with only six titles launched in the west… it may be. But in the bloat, there are a few neat ideas, so we’ll wait on a final verdict.
Right now, the launcher is planned for Blade & Soul, Lineage 2, and Aion, and will be available to players on Windows, iOS and Android.
There’s an earlier version of Purple available for Lineage 2 Mobile, but players will have to transfer their accounts to the new version of Purple in order to access its other games on this iteration’s launch.
