The long anticipated patch 1.05 is out, adding a myriad of new features. Like most other PoE enthusiasts, I was among the first to download it and start a new game. But then I encountered the following error when trying to start the game:

ERROR Data Folder Not found
There should be 'PillarsOfEternity_Data'
folder next to the executable

Attempting to verify the integrity of the game cache would trigger a redownload of all the game files, amounting to some 5.6 gigabytes or so. Thankfully, the fix is much easier to warrant any sort of wholesale redownloading. Apparently some careless programmer forgot to rename the folder containing PoE's data to its proper name. So just follow the steps below to fix the issue:

navigate to your steam installation directory for PoE; for most people, this will be \Steam\steamapps\common\Pillars of Eternity
you should notice a folder named EmptySteamDepot, change it to PillarsOfEternity_Data

Now your game should launch without any issues after an integrity verification.

For those of you who are in the middle of redownloading the game files due to the above error, you can pause your download and try out the above steps.

Worked for me. Thanks a bunch.

Had the same problem, thanks for the solution ... this should probably be stickied in the beta forum until the next patch goes live.