CITIES XL goes live

CITIES XL, the massively multiplayer city-building game from Monte Cristo, has officially launched in North America. Servers are now online, so players who purchased the game digitally, or via Monte Cristo’s online store, may now begin building those concrete jungles and urban environments. For those who have yet to purchase Cities XL, the game is available in boxed form from www.citiesxl.com, and in digital form from Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse.

In the game’s solo mode, players can build from a selection of 500 structures on varied landscape maps. In the online mode – subject to a monthly subscription - players can collaborate to construct famous landmarks, trade resources with other players, and receive new content monthly, including new building packs.

In Cities XL, players build up their cities in full 3D from a selection of 500 buildings, while trying to keep the population happy – in the beta, players have managed to get up to 17,000,000 inhabitants in one city. In the game, would-be mayors have to take account pollution, traffic and trade in order to build a perfect city.

Cities XL Steam pre-order

Monte Cristo Games announced that its upcoming city building game, Cities XL, is now available for pre-order on Steam. Priced at $39.99, the Limited Edition offers players the entire game, along with five additional maps, five exclusive landmarks, two permanent blueprints, a unique city hall, an in-game t-shirt for players’ avatars and a unique “web tag”.

For more information about pre-ordering Cities XL on Steam, check out the Steam Store.

Cities XL will be released on October 9 in North America. Visit www.citiesxl.com for more details.

Cities XL demo released

Monte Cristo today announced that the demo of its next-generation online city building game, CITIES XL is now live. The demo, which is time-limited, will run for the month of September and will give players the chance to build a city of up to 22,000 citizens on a persistent planet (the full version of the game lets you create “megalopolises” of millions of citizens).

Players will be able to build their city across three available maps (the full version of the game will include 25 maps for solo mode and 50 for the Planet Offer). Inter-city trading, the chat function and a limited avatar builder have all been included, along with the ability to visit Capital City, a town that offers an example of what can be created with Cities XL.

The demo is available at Worthplaying, Big Download, Gamershell, FileShack, and FileFront.

Cities XL will launch exclusively for PC in October 2009.

Namco Bandai Partners to publish CITIES XL in select regions

Yesterday Namco Bandai Games announced its new European operations Namco Bandai Partners. Today that group reveals its first title. Today it announced plans to publish the next generation city builder title from Monte Cristo Games, CITIES XL, in UK, Nordic Countries, Iberica, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, with distribution in other European countries previously secured by Monte Cristo. CITIES XL is scheduled for release this coming October 2009.

For more information about CITIES XL can be found at www.citiesxl.com.

CITIES XL Beta Sign-Ups Begin

Monte Cristo announced that registration for the CITIES XL closed beta has begun. Gamers interested in testing the game and offering feedback on this city builder/MMO should sign up at jointhebeta.citiesxl.com. CITIES XL allows gamers to develop cities on 3D maps using 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. 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.

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.

CITIES XL will ship in 2009, according Monte Cristo Games.