Aiming to re-define the perennially popular city builder video game genre, CITIES XL offers an experience that pushes the limits of scale, realism and sophistication both in solo play and with the vast connected online community in the game’s massively persistent multiplayer ‘Planet’ mode.

Online or offline, CITIES XL lets gamers develop cities on realistic 3D maps using a painstakingly crafted collection of unique structures and monuments based on European, Asian and American architectural styles. The numerous maps feature a variety of environments including mountains, hills, canyons, beaches and islands, all set in different climate zones ranging from tropical to desert, Mediterranean to temperate.

To get their city anywhere near the top ten best places to live list, players will need to cleverly combine and manage the resources, industries, social services, leisure activities, special events and employment opportunities in their cities. Whether it’s staffing the local fire department with heroes, building a new mega-highway, handling troublesome agricultural waste, or building a shiny new play park for the kids, there’s always a new and interesting challenge round the next corner to test the skills and grit of wannabe mayors and managers.

Monte Cristo is providing subscribers of the Planet Offer with additional free content and we are thrilled to give you a glimpse of the first content pack which will be available this week - The Old England Pack.

This pack will include a set of medieval buildings inspired by Shakespearian England, along with a paved road and a medieval plaza, with which you will be able to create your very own historic town centres! As for the other buildings already available in the game, we have spent countless hours searching for references in England and have paid special attention to the limitless details of this type of architecture.

The ten Medieval residences are medium density buildings which your citizens will undoubtedly appreciate! As all other "Old England" buildings, these residences will be accessible via a specific button in the Construction menu so that you can place them wherever you wish. Moreover, a shop, a restaurant and a hotel, all in medieval style, will complete the set. Placed at the heart of your historic quarter, these buildings will be even more profitable!

A small peaceful plaza like this one will certainly add a picturesque note to your city! But without a doubt, the highlight of your new historic quarter will be its impressive medieval church, which will extend its influence to the whole city! We can already imagine players trying to recreate these charming areas in their metropolises or in small, remote towns with steep streets and a church at their centre.

Maps

This first content pack will also feature three new maps on which to build your cities, including Rio de Janeiro, the first realistic map offered in Cities XL.

• Map: Rio de Janeiro
  • These realistic maps are terrains we have painstakingly created using official DEM (Digital Elevation Models) files for the most famous cities on the planet. We have added landmarks so that players can try to recreate the city as precisely as possible in Cities XL, or create an entirely new vision.
    
    The Rio de Janeiro map therefore faithfully recreates the actual topography of the Brazilian city, around the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer, or "Christo Rei".
    
    Head off to the beaches of Copacabana!
• Map: The Crater
  • "Aeons ago, a huge meteor crashed into this valley, creating a massive crater."
    
    The Crater is an arid landscape where nothing flourishes, but which features interesting oil resources. In the centre of the Crater, a small lake provides enough water to meet the needs of a small city.
    
    This majestic landscape also offers a privileged setting for those looking for original holidays.
• Map: The Cliffs
  • "These steep cliffs rise above the sea, creating overhanging areas where charming villages can settle."
    
    With soft, rolling hills and a mild climate, the inland areas are an ideal location for farming cities, as a small water table will easily meet the needs of intensive agriculture.
    
    No doubt that the amateurs of fresh air and ecotourism will love spending a few days' rest by these steep cliffs!

Additional Megastructures

This week, we have also introduced the Megastructures in Cities XL, with a first series of buildings which can be created by obtaining the corresponding Blueprint. The first content pack features 3 additional Megastructures, which will not only enable you to build unique cities but also significantly enhance different activity sectors. Of course, you will only benefit from these advantages if you manage to gather enough resources to build these Megastructures, but the effort is definitely worthwhile.

Megastructures: 30 St Mary Axe in London

Nicknamed the "Gherkin" by Londoners, this 180-meter skyscraper created by Norman Foster towers over the City financial district. This building is especially famous for the building techniques used and its qualities in terms of energy saving.

Placing this building in your city will definitely have a positive effect on your offices.

Megastructures: The Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Built on the exact location where the old Edo castle once stood, the Tokyo Imperial Palace has been the residence of the Japanese imperial family since the end of the 19th century. Bombed during WWII, it was completely restored in 1968.

Although only part of the palace is open to the public, its mere presence will considerably increase your city's attractiveness.

Megastructures: Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco:

Although it mostly welcomes tourists and pelicans nowadays, the Alcatraz military fort, nestled in the San Francisco Bay, is famous for having been a prison from 1909 to 1963, where some of the most dangerous criminals in the United States were held.

Placing "The Rock" in your city will significantly increase the fight against crime.

Solo mode offers players 25 maps, approximately 500 buildings, a complex and diverse citizen structure, rich enterprise selection, complex yet accessible resource simulation, an ambitious traffic system, unique real-time construction tools, and an avatar studio with web-based profile pages.

The massively persistent online ‘Planet’ mode, offers players the chance to enjoy and manage their multiplayer experience both in-game and via the internet. Interactive features include trading resources with other players, cooperative working to build Mega Stuctures, web-based city management from any computer in the world, the ability to visit cities created by other players, the chance to create and participate in online events with other players, and regular additional content including new buildings and gameplay functionality.

In Solo mode, Cities XL will offer:

• 25 maps featuring varying landscapes - from canyons to grassy hills and snowy mountains
• Around 500 buildings based on various architectural styles (European, American …)
• Diverse citizen structure: Four levels of wealth, four main different needs (Services, Environmental, Prices and Traffic) split into many sub-categories (Police and Fire departments, Education, Leisure, Commerce, multiple types of Pollution, Taxes, Cost of Life, Distance to work and more)
• A rich enterprise selection ranging from agriculture to heavy industry, services, tourism…
• A complex, but easy to access, simulation based on 12 resources to trade with an opportunistic AI (electricity, waste management, agriculture, water, fuel, etc.)
• An ambitious traffic system including many type of roads (five different widths, costs, quality and capacity), highways, airports, ports, and much more
• A set of never-before-seen real-time construction tools allowing players to create curved roads, building zones of various shapes, elaborate bridges...
• An avatar studio and Web-based profile pages

The massively persistent Planet Offer.

Multiplayer gameplay both in-game and on the web:

• Trade resources with other players to develop economic strategies, specialise your cities, maximise your possibilities in a global economy
• Work cooperatively to build Mega Structures – special buildings that enhance your city aesthetically and economically
• Web-based city management -- check your trade contracts, receive alerts, adjust your decisions from any computer in the world

Persistent MMO world:

• Each player receives five slots to build five persistent cities on different Planets
• Contribute to the life and statistics of the Planets (economics, population, pollution…): what you do has an impact on the world

Community features and animations in-game and on the web:

• Visit one another’s cities, see other players’ creations and content, chat with other players
• Create and participate in online events, discover virtual cities and real people

Regular upgrades :

• All Buildings, Maps, simulation and functionality upgrades are free with the planet offer

Monthly costs:

• 1 Month = 7€
• 3 Months = 5€/month
• 6 Months = 4.5€/month