CITIES XL

Monte Cristo Games, an independent game company located in Paris, today announced that it has received €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™, 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™ 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™, which will ship in 2009, please visit www.citiesxl.com

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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.

About Arts Alliance : Arts Alliance ( www.artsalliance.com) is a venture capital organization supporting a growing network of entrepreneurs in the US and Europe. The company was started by Thomas Høegh in 1996 and has advised on more than 40 investments. Arts Alliance focuses on companies that use technology to deliver new or enhanced services to consumers and professional users. Areas of focus include media, entertainment, communication, retail and logistics. The company has a 'hands on approach' to investment and provides comprehensive strategic and operational support to its portfolio companies.

About 360° Capital Partners: 360° Capital Partners ( www.360capitalpartners.com) is a European venture capital fund investing at ‘360 degrees’ in innovation i.e. innovative and high growth projects/companies mainly in Italy and France. With more than €100 mln under management, the fund operates through its offices of Milan and Paris and is managed by a very experienced team with more than 50 years of cumulated experience in the industry and with more than 60 venture capital investments realised in 8 different countries.

About Innoven Partenaires: Innoven Partenaires is an independent venture capital firm, founded in 1997, with more than €200 million under management. Innoven Partenaires invests in France and across Europe in young companies with high growth potential in the life sciences, information technology, communications and energy / cleantech sectors. The investment team has a pro-active approach, working closely with portfolio companies, making available a broad international network, in-depth mergers and acquisitions and business development experience and a strong track record in bringing companies to IPO. For further information, visit: www.innoven-partners.com