Citing “lower than expected” subscription rates, CitiesXL developer Monte Cristo has decided to pull the plug on the game’s ‘Planet Offer’ online service that allowed players to visit the cities of other players.

In an email to subscribers, Monte Cristo explained that the community that used Planet Offer was simply not large enough to justify its continued technical support.

"Right from the start Cities XL has always been an innovative project regarding its online dimension. Of course, trying something new always comes with a risk,” said the Monte Cristo team. “Three months after the launch we have to admit that the subscription rate is lower than what we expected and therefore the Planet Offer is not sustainable. Not enough players decided to subscribe."

However, the team contends that Cities XL will evolve into a fully single-player experience to make up for the closure of Planet Offer. “As soon as March, the Bus will be added for free in the solo game. At the same time we also keep on working on new content and new features to keep on improving Cities XL.”

"We do realise that some of you were real fans of the Planet Offer, and loved to be able to visit other player’s cities and trade tokens between players. There are simply not enough of us."