Zynga's CityVille Expands Into Downtown [EXCLUSIVE]

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Popular Facebook game CityVille is expanding today into CityVille Downtown. The expansion takes all of the fun from CityVille, and adds a second game board for players to turn their town into a bustling metropolis.

Officially launched in December 2010, CityVille now boasts an astounding 43 million players per month according to AppData. This is the game's first-ever expansion.

“One of the big things our community has asked for is that they want to build more,” Scott Koenigsberg, GM of CityVille told Mashable. “People have spent so much time and energy playing they don't want to delete things off their game board.”

Players above level 20 in the game can add a downtown to their city starting today, expanding it with new downtown-exclusive buildings and decorations. New additions to the game include businesses such as high-end boutiques and wine bars, and new buildings like amphitheaters, stadiums and skyscrapers.

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The downtown works as almost an entire new city within your city, offering new quests, rules and characters. Players can meet Harry Hipster, Rebecca Realtor, Susie Shopaholic and Frank the Commuter, and add to the property value of their city by placing cultural, art and leisure community buildings.

If you miss your old city, you can hop on the virtual subway and head home to play in your old town.

One point Zynga wants to drive home with CityVille Downtown: The company's still working on its existing games. “We're pushing out a ton of new features,” says Koenigsberg. Adding that some of the building and art you see in CityVille Downtown may even be a teaser for upcoming features and expansions within the game.