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.

The second content pack for Cities XL includes the much awaited bus system and some very nice treats for both Planet and Solo players.

1. The Bus System (Planet): Is traffic is becoming an issue in your city? Yet you don't wish to destroy lovingly crafted neighborhoods to build expressways right in the middle of your residential areas? It’s time to offer your citizens an alternative to cars! Available from 50.000 inhabitants – or earlier if you use Expert mode and are not too worried about costs – bus lines will prove a handy way for your citizens to get to their working place.
2. Mega-Ferris Wheel (Planet): A new blueprint will allow you to build this fully animated Ferris wheel megastructure to better satisfy the leisure needs of your citizens. It will be particularly appreciated by your Unqualified and Qualified Workers.
3. New York Map (Planet): The Statue of Liberty, some of the most renowned skyscrapers and a complete road layout are already placed on this new realistic map to let you reproduce the famous capital of the United States of America, or your very own vision of it!
4. City Hall and Central Library of The Hague (Solo & Planet): The “Ice Palace”, as it is sometimes called, was one of the winning buildings of the “Point, Shoot, Win” contest we organized last year when the game was still under development. It is now being added to the game as a leisure building, and its library and multimedia center will prove a good way to improve your citizens’ education.
5. Omnicorp Price Drop (Solo): Has Don Madalff been blessed with the spirit of Christmas all of a sudden? Or is it just another clever scheme from Omnicorp’s boss to make more benefits? The true motives of Madalff will probably not matter much to solo mayors as this drop in prices can only be good news for their cities.

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