PORTSMOUTH - The city of Portsmouth has been chosen to be featured on a new "Here & Now U.S. Edition" of the Monopoly board game, based on votes from 4 million people in 182 countries, the Hasbro company announced Thursday.

Portsmouth will be featured as a property square on a new version of Monopoly that's scheduled to be released in the fall, Hasbro announced. The property square is light blue in color and a companion property with Charlotte, N.C., and Dallas, Texas.

A photo on Portsmouth's game square was taken from the area of the Peirce Island fishing pier and shows commercial fishing boats in the foreground and a lit Memorial Bridge in the background.

"I think it's really exciting," said Mayor Bob Lister, who said he's played the game with his family for years. "We get accolades all the time, but this is really great."

The announcement was made on the first "Monopoly Day," which is also the Monopoly brand's 80th birthday, Hasbro announced. The game manufacturer estimates that Monopoly has been played by more than one billion people in 114 countries and has been translated into 47 languages.

Lister said the game has been played by generations of people and he hopes the new Portsmouth connection will renew interest locally and get some people away from technology for some low-tech fun.

But will the mayor buy the game when it's released?

"Absolutely," he said.

Valerie Rochon, tourism director for the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber encouraged people to vote through social media and by urging friends to "vote now and vote often."

Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president of global marketing for gaming at Hasbro, said "Inviting fans to get involved in the creation of the newest Monopoly game was a great way to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the brand."

"It was amazing to see both fans and local organizations around the world rally behind their cities and we were wowed by the overwhelming pride people displayed during the Here & Now vote," he said.