LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule bought by Sony Computer Entertainment
In an unsurprising move, Sony Computer Entertainment has acquired Media Molecule, the small developer behind the big hit that is LittleBigPlanet. Already tied into an exclusivity deal for the PS3, this means Media Molecule is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony.
LittleBigPlanet is something of a phenomenon. Whether you love or hate it, you cannot deny its place in this generation’s list of best games. With regular DLC and the ability to share and play user-created levels online, LittleBigPlanet continues to gain fans and win awards.
The guys behind the game, Media Molecule, have been rewarded for their achievements by being acquired by Sony for a undisclosed sum of money. In announcing the deal, Sony Europe studios boss Michael Denny states that Media Molecule will be allowed to carry on as before, and that there are already “exciting projects in the pipeline.”
This acquisition means that LittleBigPlanet and its rumored sequels will remain Playstation exclusives forever. And I’d suggest LittleBigPlanet 2 cannot now be far away from being announced.
65 Responses to “LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule bought by Sony Computer Entertainment”
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March 3rd, 2010
Sony going Casual, oh well another useless studio.
March 3rd, 2010
CAD – “Sony going Casual, oh well another useless studio”
LBP and Media Molecule have won more awards than any game coming from Microsoft Games Studio (also rated higher than any game under MS Games Studios)
here is a little info about the Media Molecule:
Media Molecule – “The studio was founded in January 2006 by former members of Peter Molyneux’s Lionhead Studios, a subsidiary of Microsoft Games Studio.
On 2 March 2010, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced that it had acquired Media Moleculeâ€
March 3rd, 2010
MS’s main 1st Party Studios:
-Rare (Viva Pinata)
-Turn 10 (Forza series)
-Lionhead (Fable Series, Project Milo & Kate)
vs
Sony’s main 1st party Studios:
-Bend Studio (Syphon Filter series)
-Foster City Studio
-Naughty Dog (Uncharted, Jak & Daxter series)
-San Diego Studio (ModNation Racers, MLB the Show)
-Santa Monica Studio (God of War series)
-Zipper Interactive (Socom series, MAG)
-Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo Series, Tourist Trophy)
-Japan Studio (Demon’s Souls, Ape Escape Series)
-London Studio (Getaway, Singstar, Eye Pet)
-Cambridge Studio ( MediEvil, Home, helped on LBP)
-Guerrilla Games (Killzone Series)
-Evolution Studios (Motorstorm series, WRC series)
-Studio Liverpool (Wipeout series)
-Team Ico (Ico, Shadow of the Collossus)
-Incognito Entertainment (Warhawk, Twisted Metal)
-SOE (The Agency, DC Universe, Free Realms)
-Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet)
March 3rd, 2010
arnt they making like a pod racers game where u cusomize everything? lbp was so so but the racing sounds sweet
March 3rd, 2010
@Kevo
are you still playing Demon’s Souls? or just Heavy Rain?
March 3rd, 2010
@Roca
your replies are always amazing and informative
I didn’t know M$ loss was Sony’s gain.
LBP quality is worth a hundred games in one.
March 3rd, 2010
@kevo
modnation racers is developed by united front studios and SCE San diego studios and not media molecule, but they were inspired by MM at GDC to create the game in the create play share concept that MM established on consoles.
March 3rd, 2010
PS3 dominates Amazon retail chartPublished: 2 hours ago; 11:25am PDT
Sony Corp.’s Playstation 3 dominated retail sales at Amazon.com this week on strong demand for hardware and game titles.
This week, Square Enix Holdings Co.’s Final Fantasy XIII PS3 SKU ranked as the No. 1 top-selling product in Amazon’s Video Games division.
The PS3 120GB SKU ranked No. 2, followed by
God of War III at No. 3,
EA Inc.’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at No. 6,
Heavy Rain at No. 7, and
MLB 10 The Show at No. 8.
Sony this week suffered an online service error in the Playstation Network division that disabled online gaming functionality. The service was restored in 24 hours.
In the third quarter, Sony sold 6.5 million PS3 units, up from 4.5 million units one year prior.
The Networked Products and Services division, which includes the Playstation business, held a 1.9 percent increase in profit to 606 billion yen.
PS3 software sales increased to 47.6 million units, up from 40.8 million.
The PS3 has sold 33.5 million units to date worldwide.
another good move by PS3
March 3rd, 2010
@roca
incognito closed down and eat sleep play and lightbox entertainment was formed with the people from
incognito.
March 3rd, 2010
@Gunstar
that’s what I do best
I always try my best to research my side of the argument and share the knowledge
March 3rd, 2010
After doing some research i have noticed that allot of the above studios have been bought by sony in the last 4 years. This must have come at considerable investment. We havent seen many games this gen from them either have we yet i know we have allot on the way. Also studios tend to stick to certain franchises i wonder if MS’s approach to buying just franchises and timed exclusives has had a better return ie Halo ME (I will believe ME is on the PS3 when i see it)
March 3rd, 2010
@Navyste
you sir are wrong again, here are the dates when Sony Acquired all their Studios
-Bend Studio, Acquired in 2000 (10 years ago)
-Naughty Dog, Acquired in 2001 (9 years ago)
-Santa Monica Studio, created by SCE in 1999 (11 years ago)
-Zipper Interactive, acquired in 2006 (4 years ago)
-Polyphony Digital, created by SCE late 90s (10+ years ago)
-Japan Studio, created by SCE in late 90s (10+ years ago)
-London Studio, created by SCE in 1993 (17 years ago)
-Cambridge Studio, formed by SCE in 1997 (13 years ago)
-Guerrilla Games, acquired in 2005 (5 years ago)
-Evolution Studios, acquired in 2007 (3 years ago)
-Studio Liverpool, acquired in 1999 (11 years ago)
-Team Ico, formed in 1997 (13 years ago)
-SOE, pary of Sony since 1995 (15 years ago)
-Media Molecule, acquired by Sony yesterday (1 day ago)
the median (in years ) is = 10 years
Polyphony Digital by themselves have made Sony more profit than most of MS’s franchises
March 4th, 2010
‘Sony going Casual, oh well another useless studio’
Oh well, another useless comment by CAD/Troll.
LBP is higher rated than most 360 exclusives you dumb fuck.
March 4th, 2010
The Ps3 has been selling quite well lately. I’m glad to see the Ps3 doing so well. As stated earler, Ps3 has many exclusive quality titles.
March 4th, 2010
a lil bit of both roca
March 4th, 2010
“LBP is higher rated than most 360 exclusives you dumb fuck.”
To clarify, Only one 360 exclusive has a better metacritic rating and it took 4 years into the consoles lifetime to achieve that, and it’s from a third party studio. Congratulations Mass Effect 2. Stand up and take a bow.
March 4th, 2010
I have to say, I’m incredibly impressed with Heavy Rain.
Even when I was buying it, I felt a little unsure. Now that I’m about half way through or so, I’m blown away. I LOVE it.
Some of the most intense action sequences I’ve experienced this gen. The action is compounded by the weight of your choices and the consequences that follow.
btw.. Heavy Rain makes the old branching text options seem outdated (ME2). I hope western RPGs take note and start using the same system for choices.
March 4th, 2010
24 total different ending depending on your decisions. I’m on my second playthrough right now.
March 4th, 2010
I saw one of the trophies. See all possible endings (Gold)
March 4th, 2010
that’s going to be a pain in the butt to get
March 4th, 2010
LBP ain’t nothing more then a Broken game with with potential and personally I place it with the Kids games. Sure it get good reviews for it’s uniqueness but on the real most levels don’t even work properly. Even Sony’s E3 presentation in 08 was plauged by this in their presentation when certain things that were suppose to happen did not but no one noticied because no one knew what to expect. Sony admitted it after the presentation. I don’t care what score it gets when I’ve read from a few reviews about how broken the gameplay was. Does anyone even play it anymore.
March 4th, 2010
new Tomb Raider game announced:
“Lara Croft And The Guardian of Light”
they dropped they “Tomb Raider” name because they series have lost its shine over the years
March 4th, 2010
@CAD
LBP is broken huh? that’s a first…how is LPB broken when it has done what nobody else have been to do and also got away with a 95 metascore on its first games while it took Mass Effect 2 entries to get a similar score. the level creation on LBP is so Perfect that you can actually play level similar to Contra, Mario Bros, LocoRoco, they even have GTA and MGS level that are well done….there are also racing level, mini games level and level just for trophies.
I bet GTA4 is more broken than LBP
your envy is starting to show
March 4th, 2010
@Roca
I saw that (Tomb Raider) and put the link in the TR topic and emailed Mike.
March 4th, 2010
If LBP is a “kids game”, I must admit it’s the most difficult “kids game” I’ve ever played.
March 4th, 2010
“LBP ain’t nothing more then a Broken game with with potential and personally I place it with the Kids games.”
And it still scores better then most Xbox games? LMAO
March 4th, 2010
Like I said before ncaissie…Not only does it score better than “Most”, It scored better than ALL but one (ME2) 360 Exclusive.
It’s kind of underplaying its greatness by only saying “Most”.
March 4th, 2010
LOL yeah but after playing t I have to agree that it’s more for kids or casual players.
March 4th, 2010
Yet the level creator is for the hardcore. If anything the game appeals to all but the closed minded minority, or majority in the 360 demographic
March 4th, 2010
“the closed minded minority, or majority in the 360 demographic”
lmaoo….”Must play Halo…Must Play Halo”
March 4th, 2010
[Robot voice]Xbot parameter 1. achievement confirmed.[/Robot voice]
March 4th, 2010
LOL My 8 year old plays online and builds levels all the time. I’ll probably play mod nation.
March 4th, 2010
Guess I’m not Hard core like my daughter.
March 4th, 2010
I tried creating a couple of levels but they all sucked…
the most fun you can get while playing LBP is playing the levels created by other players..there are some gems in there
March 4th, 2010
not my idea of fun but If I was into it I think I would mostly play the user levels also.
March 4th, 2010
ncaissie,
you only post on one thread now?
March 4th, 2010
your daughter is bad ass.
March 4th, 2010
I post on the others.
March 4th, 2010
Yeah I have to read all her PSN messages and stop the idiots from saying things like “you be my gf?” I tell then to beat it and put them on block. She is only 8 and It’s starting already for fuck sake. And I have 3 girls to go through.
March 4th, 2010
You have to be on them all the time to be sure they are not giving out information they are not supposed to.
March 4th, 2010
“You have to be on them all the time to be sure they are not giving out information they are not supposed to.”
like thier Dad’s credit card number!
March 4th, 2010
Three daughters. You must have been a really big womanizer to have such luck
March 4th, 2010
@ CAD: How much we betting you’d say different about LBP if it was 360 exclusive? lmao fanboy geek sort your life and and get a mrs… if they take geeks like you.
March 4th, 2010
And since when is LBP JUST a kids game? Only a kids game lol. Stupid, retarded, ignorant fanboy in complete denial. I suppose your gonna say I ain’t got a 360 and I’m a bigger fanboy than you? Blah, blah, blah…
March 4th, 2010
Isn’t ME2 on the PC too?
March 4th, 2010
@CAD “LBP ain’t nothing more then a Broken game”
Really…would that be the same broken game that MS took the idea for Kodu for? http://gamer.blorge.com/2009/01/07/xbox-360-littlebigplanet-killer-part-of-shift-to-casual-market/
Would that be the same broken game that they used the theme song for their Live Get Connected marketing campaign.
http://www.technobuffalo.com.lg1x1z.simplecdn.net/blog/gaming/console-wars-round-7-xbox-360-vs-ps3-online-experience
You know something…I live all the way here in Brisbane, Australia and I’m having trouble sleeping at night cause that fucking neon sign about your house all the way across the globe is screaming “I’M A FLAMING FANBOY” keeps me up at night.
Fucking moron.
March 4th, 2010
@CAD “LBP ain’t nothing more then a Broken game”
Is this the same broken game that MS were copying with their Kodu (or some shit like that)?
Of course they wouldn’t copy the theme song for their Live Get Connected marketing camapign.
http://www.technobuffalo.com.lg1x1z.simplecdn.net/blog/gaming/console-wars-round-7-xbox-360-vs-ps3-online-experience.
You really need to have a hard look at yourself.
March 4th, 2010
@ncaissie
You do know the term Hardcore gamer was probably created by some 40 year old dude sitting in his parents basement playing WOW.
March 4th, 2010
@ncaissie
and that same dude is probably the one sending your girl those weird messages.
March 5th, 2010
The Term Hardcore Gamer has been around a lot longer than WoW or another other mmorpg. You are funny. Water my flowers? Let me watch? Housekeeping?
March 5th, 2010
“like thier Dad’s credit card number!”
Exactly, I just found out I have been paying for something called Moshi Monsters for a year now. It was supposed to be one month.
March 5th, 2010
LBP is not just for kids but for the casual crowd also.
I found it boring and wanted to kill something by the end of the second level.
It’s just not for me.
March 5th, 2010
LMAO @ Moshi monsters!!!!
March 5th, 2010
LOL I have to find a way to cancel the dam thing.
March 5th, 2010
ncaissie:
I hate LBP so much. Also ModNation Racer i hated i have the beta is really bad. At least it makes money like crack. I hoe MM makes something new but that we already seen done before fuck this new idea that only worked for Heavy Rain well also for LBP but still i hope no sequel.
March 5th, 2010
Yeah I signed my kid up for MM for one month. Months later they send one invoice and I find out I have been paying all along. I called the credit card company to put a stop to it.
And send clickandbuy.com a nasty email
March 5th, 2010
wtf is Moshi Monsters?
March 5th, 2010
“Moshi Monsters is a brand new online game where you can adopt your very own pet monster. Each one has a lively, unique personality that develops the more …
http://www.moshimonsters.com/“
March 5th, 2010
LOL
March 5th, 2010
Like webkinz.com
At least with webkinz you buy a stuffed toy and get that toy as a virtual pet for a year.
March 5th, 2010
Hey Jofa, change your avatar to a kratos for a while.
March 5th, 2010
LOL that shit sounds corny
March 5th, 2010
“LOL that shit sounds corny”
Not to a 4,6 and 8 year old girl.
I can’t just let her play GOW all the time.
March 6th, 2010
ncaissie:
I hate webkinz so much that shit is like Wii for kids. I should hack that stupid website. Oh and PlayStation games don’t need age limitations.
March 7th, 2010
Nah, sorry, my SoaD Avatar is a permanent feature, heh. I was tempted, but I am also lazy. If I change it, I would have to change it back. Too much effortz.