Monaco coming to XBLA and PC simultaneously

For years, Pocketwatch Games' multiplayer heist-action game Monaco has been a hit at trade shows, award ceremonies and Joystiq parties. Now, Joystiq can exclusively reveal that it's going to be playable in your very own home on XBLA and Steam (for both Mac and PC).

There's no release date, but the self-published PC version will be released simultaneously with the Majesco-published XBLA release – Pocketwatch isn't sure if the Mac version will be day-and-date, but "we're doing our best."

"Monaco was originally designed to be played with four friends on the couch, all planning and executing a heist together," designer Andy Schatz said. Pocketwatch has added four-player online co-op to all the versions, in addition to the couch-based co-op and the single player ("the stealthiest version," Schatz calls it.) The XBLA release facilitates the authentic couch multiplayer by putting the game on a couch-friendly console. Schatz said that he met with Majesco at PAX East and "the stars aligned."%Gallery-168499%

"Majesco recognized that Monaco was a game that won awards and had developed a huge pre-release following for a reason: it is incredibly accessible, but different," Schatz told Joystiq. "They wanted us to run with it and trusted in our vision for the game from the very beginning. They also let us self-publish on the PC simultaneously. They've been fantastic to work with ... it's actually kinda been exactly what a lot of indies dream that a good publisher/developer relationship should be like."

The IGF Seumas McNally award gave Pocketwatch some development funds and validation. They also "made me realize that the game really needed a wide release," Schatz said. "The marketplace has changed a lot over the last 3 years, and it really wasn't even possible to release the game in the way we wanted to until recently.

"So winning a bunch of awards is kind of that lifeline that you hold onto, knowing that your game is good and that it's worth putting the extra investment into." But they won't be the deciding factor for players. " In the end, no one will buy Monaco because of the IGF awards," Schatz noted. "They will buy it because Monaco is awesome, and they want to skulk around a casino with their buddies."

Monaco is currently in closed beta on PC. You can follow the developer on Twitter and Facebook for sporadic chances to make off with beta access.