The multiplayer features of CitiesXL found in the game's Planet Offer subscription service are set to be canceled come March 8th, 2010 according to an announcement made by CitiesXL developer Monte Cristo today. The reason for the cancellation is not an unfamiliar one, simply not enough players took the company up on their Planet Offer, and so the service is being shut down.

The game will continue to live on as a single-player game, and you can read more about the situation at the handy FAQ found on the game's official website.

Below is the letter announcing the cancellation:

Dear Mayors,

First of all we want to thank you for your support since Cities XL was released in October of last year, and as far back as October 2007 for some of you.

In early 2007 we decided to be those who would make a new offer to City Builder games fans. 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.

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.

Therefore, it is with deep regret that we decided to put an end to the Planet Offer as of March 8th 2010. It will no longer be possible to subscribe to the game starting Monday February 1st 2010.

Nevertheless the Cities XL adventure goes on! Cities XL will evolve into a fully single player game. 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 realize 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.

Thank you again for your understanding and support.

- The Monte Cristo team

You can view the original announcement here.