monte-cristo-games posts

Earlier this year publisher Focus Home Interactive announced that it had bought the Cities XL game franchise from the now defunct developer Monte Cristo Games. The next game in the city building simulation series, Cities XL 2011, is due to be released via download on October 14.

However if you already own a copy of the original Cities XL game you will be able to get the new Cities XL 2011 for a whopping 50 percent discount off its normal price of $39.99 from the game's official web site. You have to get your pre-order in before October 14 to get the discount and you have to have your Cities XL CD key. Both the original and limited edition versions of Cities XL are eligible for the discount.

Earlier this year we reported that Cities XL developer Monte Cristo Games had shut down operations, leaving development of their city simulation game in limbo. Today Focus Home Interactive has announced that it has purchased the Cities XL franchise and will release the previously announced Cities XL 2011 this October. The announcement comes with the first screenshots for the game.

The new version of the game won't have the MMO aspects of the original (which shut down even before Monte Cristo Games closed) but Focus Home Interactive states the new version will have 700 new buildings to choose from along with 45 buildable maps. Focus also plans to have a special offer for the game but details have yet to be revealed.

The development team behind the city simulation-MMO title Cities XL has announced that it will close its doors this week. In a message board post on the Simtropolis fan site, a representative from France-based Monte Cristo Games announced the shut down of the developer. However the message stated that Cities XL will continue to be sold by another unnamed publisher and that the online login required to play the game will still be in place.

Established in 1995 Monte Cristo Games developed and released quite a few PC titles in its existence. In October 2009 it released Cities XL, an ambitious mix of an urban city simulation and an MMO game. However the game failed to reach a large enough audience. In January 2010 the MMO portion of the game was closed. The developer also announced plans for an updated single player game, Cities Xl 2011, but with Monte Cristo's shut down it looks like those plans are on indefinite hold.

Monte Cristo Games' launch of their city simulator Cities XL last fall had both a single player aspect as well as a MMO feature that allowed for potientially thousands of players to build their cities on a virtual planet. However it appears that there was little interest in an city sim MMO. The game's web site has now announced that due to a lack of subscriptions, the MMO aspect of Cities XL will be shut down on March 8. No new subscribers will be taken after February 1.

A anew FAQ page gives more details on the MMO shut down and how it will affect players of the game. It also reveals that Monte Cristo plans to launch an all new single player online game called Cities XL 2011. Until that game is released the original Cities XL won't be getting any new content updates.

[Via Voodoo Extreme]

Monte Cristo Games continues to release new content items for their urban simulation Cities XL. Today they have announced that a new batch of items is now available for players of the game. People who play the online (Planet) version of Cities XL can now add a bus system to their cities of 50,000 or more inhabitants.

Planet players can also add a mega ferris wheel to their cities as well as a New York City map with the Statue of Liberty, some of the cities famous skyscrapers and a full road layout. Both Planet and Solo players can add two new buildings (City Hall and Central Library of The Hague) and Solo players can put in an Omnicorp price drop.

Monte Cristo Games' recently release city simulation game Cities XL contains both a offline single player mode and a persistent online mode where you build and trade with other players and their cities. Now Monte Cristo Games has announced they are offering three different versions of the game, each with their own emphasis.

The Discovery Pack version will allow gamers to play the full online portion of Cities XL and five slots to create your urban locations. The $9.99 fee covers the first 30 days. After that you can continue to play the online version with either a monthly or three month subscription fee. You can also switch to the offline only (Cities XL Solo) version of the game which costs $39.99 or buy the Premium Pack which gives access to both online and offline versions, plus a three month subscription, for $57.99.

Monte Cristo Games' city simulation title Cities XL has fulfilled its promise on delivering new downloadable content and today owners of the game can now automatically grab the first such content pack via the game's launcher. Every owner of the game will gain access to three new buildings; a high school, a small family farm and an official Ford car dealership (shown above) where your city's citizens can buy and drive several Ford vehicles.

If you are a subscriber to Cities XL's Planet Offer service you can get even more extra content including a set of Old England style buildings, three new maps and three new mega structures (including the Alcatraz prison). You can get more info on that content at the game's official web site.

We've already had a huge response to our giveaway contest where five of our readers will get a Steam download code for Cities XL, the recently released multiplayer city simulation game from developer Monte Cristo Games. However all good things must come to an end and for our giveaway the end is very near.

You still have until 11:59 pm Eastern Time tonight to head over to our contest page, make a comment and then wait patiently to see if we email you back saying, "Hey, you are a winner." Because let's face it; everyone really wants to be a winner.

Monte Cristo Games is apparently not willing to wait any longer for a US retail distribution deal for their city simulation Cities XL. On the games official web site the dev team has announced that the game will be self-published by them . . but will not be released (yet) in retail stores.

Rather the game will be made available via download from several established services like Direct2Drive, Steam, Impulse, GameTap and others. Cities XL will be released on October 9 from these outlets. If you are still not hip to the idea of downloading games, you can send in your money for a mail order release of a boxed version. Monte Cristo will even pay for your shipping charges.

Monte Cristo Games is prepping to release their long awaited MMO-like city simulation game Cities XL later this fall in the UK and other countries. This week the publisher released info on a special Limited Edition of the game that will have several unique in-game content bonuses than the standard edition of the game.

While the game has an October 8 release date in other parts of the world, Monte Cristo Games still has not yet announced when the game will show up here in the US. In the meantime you can check out the contents of the Limited Edition of the game after the jump:

[via email press release]