CITIES XL™ "Point, Shoot – Win!" Contest Launched

Get your home or favorite building featured in CITIES XL™

PARIS, France. May 20, 2008 - Monte Cristo is launching an exciting new contest today for their upcoming next-generation city-building title, CITIES XL™. In the new "Point, Shoot – Win!" contest, you need only submit a photo of a current residential building to the forums at www.citiesxl.com to enter. Starting on May 28, members of the CITIES XL™ community will begin voting on the submitted images, with three winners being announced on June 10. The winning entries will be included in the final version of CITIES XL™ when the game goes on sale in 2009.

Only images of residential structures (homes, apartment buildings, etc.) may be submitted, and no trademarked buildings, monuments or other current intellectual properties may be entered into the contest. Before submitting a photo, please read the complete rules and submission guidelines at www.citiesxl.com. Grab your camera, as a building you choose (or maybe even your own home) could be included in CITIES XL™.

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™.

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

About Monte Cristo Games: Created in 1995 Monte Cristo is a leading game production company with over a decade of experience, having successfully published 30 games worldwide. Backed by leading international venture capitalists, we are currently focusing a team of over 80 people on the development of CITIES XL™ which merges video gaming with social networking and virtual worlds.