It's official!  Turbine has placed an announcement on their website announcing the new expansion for their long running game, Asheron's Call.  The expansion, entitled Throne of Destiny, includes many new features, including a graphics update and a new playable race.

Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny Primary Features · Graphics Upgrade: Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny will feature a substantial upgrade of Turbine's first generation graphics engine, the Turbine Engine®. The game will upgrade to DX9 and add 5,000 repainted textures. As a result, AC:TD will have dramatically enhanced texture sizes, resulting in more detailed characters, creatures and landscapes. The improvements won't significantly impact performance, allowing robust play even on lower-end machines. · New Playable Race: Players can now choose to play Asheron's Call as a warlike Viamontian, which have long been the scourge of the nations of Ispar. The Viamontians' bids for continental domination have finally resulted in a rapidly expanding kingdom under the leadership of King Varicci. Along with the new race, players will discover and explore a unique archipelago in the North of Dereth, which is held by the Viamontians. · Raised Level Cap: AC:TD will challenge elder players in Dereth with a new high level cap of 261. With the new level cap comes skill credits that players can spend to activate precious gems that augment their characters, such as extra carrying pack storage slots and lesser death penalties. · Rare Items: Adventurers in Dereth will occasionally come across advantageous rare items that are scattered across the land. Some of the items are transitory and may be used only once, while others are eternal and may be used over and over again. However, players will lose the precious rare items should their characters meet their demise.

The expansion was announced at Turbine Nation 2004 and is scheduled for a spring 2005 release.  Read the official press release at this link.

Click here for the official Asheron's Call website.