City Life creator Monte Christo have just unveiled the next generation of their city-building franchise, Cities XL, which takes the city-building concept to a whole new level. Players will be able to develop their cities using a variety of architecture styles alone, but they'll also be able to create cities on persistent online planets populated with other players. You'll be able to team with others to create sprawling metropolises, visit and attend events in other players creations, or simply wander around exploring. It's a social online city building sim. It sounds absolutely glorious, and doesn't look too shabby either. This is the route SimCity should have taken, rather then releasing the ill-received SimCity Societies. Cities XL is scheduled for release in on the PC in 2009, but you can join the community at www.citiesxl.com and have a hand in creating something that could revolutionize the city building genre.

Monte Cristo Unveils the Next Generation of City-Builders Think massive, think online, think CITIES XL™

PARIS, France. April 17, 2008 - Monte Cristo is pleased to announce CITIES XL™ for Windows today. In this next-generation take on the city building genre, realism will be pushed to the limit with cities that are bigger, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before. CITIES XL™ will expand upon all the features that make city builders fun and interesting, while also letting players take their game online, as they interact with others in a massive online environment.

Download new CITIES XL™ screens at:
http://www.calico-media.com/montecristo/citiesxl/CitiesXL.zip

CITIES XL™ allows gamers to develop cities on realistic 3D maps using an incredible collection of unique structures and monuments based on American, Asian and European-influenced architectural styles. The maps feature a variety of environments: mountains, hills, canyons, beaches and islands, all set in different climates from tropical to desert, Mediterranean to temperate. Players must create the right combinations of social services, leisure activities, special events and other job opportunities within their cities in order to feed, clothe, employ and entertain their citizens. Be it planning and building a new zoo, public park, residential neighborhood or transit system - there's always a fresh and exciting challenge for would-be city managers and mayors in CITIES XL™.

"We believe that the level of detail and realism brought to CITIES XL™ answers the needs of city-builder fans," said Jérôme Gastaldi, COO of Monte Cristo. "We believe fans of the genre will definitely enjoy CITIES XL™ and many of those fans have provided us with feedback on our development so far. We are really proud to have such a cool and proactive community."

The game's online features and services will allow players to create interconnected cities on virtual and persistent planets. Mayors can share and trade with one another, specialize their economy and team up with befriended cities to create sprawling metropolises. Life on the planet will be punctuated by events and competitions - a concert held in one town may, for example, be attended by visitors from other areas who can also enjoy a walk around the city to admire the urban creations of multiple players. By combining a fantastic single-player game with the social and multiplayer aspects of an MMO, CITIES XL™ will shape the future of the genre by offering more variety, bigger cities and multiple gameplay layers.

For more information about CITIES XL™, which will ship in 2009, please join the continuously growing community at www.citiesxl.com
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