PARIS--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 11, 2008 -- Monte Cristo Games, an independent game company located in Paris, today announced that it has received EUR 4.5 million (approx. $7 million USD) in funding from Arts Alliance, 360° Capital Partners and Innoven Partenaires. This new investment will be used to expand the development of CITIES XL(TM), Monte Cristo's upcoming next-generation city-building online game.

"We are very pleased to receive this new round of funding from such renowned partners," said Jérôme Gastaldi, CEO of Monte Cristo Games. "This new funding will allow us to dedicate additional resources to creating the best entertainment experience possible in CITIES XL, while also leveraging our incredibly talented development teams in Paris and Kiev to create a fantastic virtual world and online community."

"CITIES XL is an impressive project, and we are very excited to support it with such a significant investment," said François Tison, General Partner of 360° Capital Partners. Thomas Balland, Investment Director of Innoven Partenaires added: "Monte Cristo Games is a well-established creator of top-quality entertainment, and we have absolute confidence in their ability to create and operate a massive interactive experience as unique as CITIES XL will be."

In development by Monte Cristo Games, CITIES XL(TM) expands upon all the features that make city builders fun and interesting, while also letting players take their game online, as they interact with others in a persistent online environment. Realism will be pushed to the limit with cities that are bigger, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before.

For more information about CITIES XL(TM), which will ship in 2009, please visit 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(TM) which merges video gaming with social networking and virtual worlds.

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