The CITIES XL Interview on Ten Ton Hammer chats up Monte Cristo CEO Jérome Gastaldi about their upcoming urban planning game, which he explains advances the genre: "CITIES XL is a true next generation City Builder. We added many features to the genre that allows us to say this with confidence! For example, we created a unique 3D engine that lets you see and manage your city from regular top down views, but with which you can also zoom to street level and roam around freely in your city and explore like a regular pedestrian. The fantastic graphics enhance the immersion even more! We also expanded upon the gameplay of the genre by adding what we call GEMs (Gameplay Extension Modules) which will see full Tycoon games added to CITIES XL. Our first GEMs are the Ski resort and Beach, and we have another dozen, such as Airport, Theme Park or Transport tycoons being worked on for future releases. But our biggest innovation lies in the Planet Offer, which is our online mode, where players can build cities on large planets and interact with each other through exchanges and project creation. The social aspect that this brings to the game is enormous and very motivating."