Ashen Empires: Dransik Rebranded

Koltrane

On January 10, 2004, TKO Software announced it had purchased the Dransik franchise from AsylumSoft and is using it as the basis for its new game, Ashen Empires.  To facilitate the changeover, TKO is offering a public beta for the next few weeks to allow players to become familiar with the new game.  The press release may be read in the news section of the official site.  Here is an excerpt:

TKO Software, Inc., is pleased to announce the introduction of Ashen Empires, a MMORPG based on an agreement from AsylumSoft for their Dransik game. The new product is designed to better reflect the back-story of the world. The re-branding of the licensed game is to leave behind the legacy of Dransik and to build a positive experience in the new world of Ashen Empires. The Ashen Empires launch begins today with a free, public beta which will continue until at least March. During this time, existing customers who have signed up for Dransik will have free accounts. As a bonus to those customers that choose to switch permanently, any residual subscription that customers had on January 12th will be added back to Ashen Empires accounts at the conclusion of the Public Beta. New customers are invited to register for free gaming by downloading the Ashen Empires client software at www.AshenEmpires.com. The original development staff has chosen to join TKO Software as employees. We look forward to bringing their considerable skills in game design, art, and programming to bear on the projects of enhancing and adding new features into the Ashen Empires MMORPG.

For those interested in Dransik Classik, the original version of the game, it is still available here.