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[fermcr]

"Media Molecule co-founder and creative director Mark Healey has confirmed that he is leaving the studio.
In a series of tweets, Healey – who directed Dreams – wrote: “So, after 17 incredible years of co-birthing and building Media Molecule, I have decided it is time for me to fly the nest – set sail and chart a new course – today is my last day at MM."

https://www.videogameschronicle.com...ams-director-mark-healey-has-left-the-studio/

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/media-molecule-co-founder-mark-healey-departs-after-17-years

 

[lh032]

hopefully MM start being serious developing actual games now.
Jimbo is sharpening his blade

 

[Punished Miku]

hopefully MM start being serious developing actual games now.
Jimbo is sharpening his blade

Should've cut this way before even looking at Japan Studio.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Mark Healey be like...

Anyway, good luck to him on his future ventures!

 

[splattered]

Is this where MM becomes a support studio for Sony's new GaaS push?

 

[AV]

 

[feynoob]

Top people leaving their studios in order to make their own studios.
This seems to be the new trend these days.

 

[adamsapple]

Top people leaving their studios in order to make their own studios.
This seems to be the new trend these days.

Talent leaving studios after their project is done has been happening for decades, it's really nothing new honestly.

 

[Godot25]

Talent leaving studios after their project is done has been happening for decades, it's really nothing new honestly.

Yeah. It's nothing new...
...unless that happens with Xbox studio.

Then it is doom & gloom and mismanagement

Also. Looks like this guy is going to Rare? He liked a tweet that "welcomed" him there.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Oh no...a person is leaving a studio after 17 years and in-between projects. Must be some sort of trouble

Spoiler

/s

 

[Godot25]

Oh no...a person is leaving a studio after 17 years and in-between projects. Must be some sort of trouble

Spoiler

/s

4 co-founders or directors leaving in 2 years is perfectly normal

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

"he left or he was let go"

dreams was such a waste of time that is not even funny.

and the "MM" void was replaced by TeamAsobi with AstroBot. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets closed.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Talent leaving studios after their project is done has been happening for decades, it's really nothing new honestly.

just after the announcement that Dreams's support is ending.....coincidence?

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

4 co-founders or directors leaving in 2 years is perfectly normal

They are starting a new IP...not everyone is happy with it probably.
Same thing happened when Days Gone didn't have a sequel. Same thing happened when Uncharted 4 was rebooted and Amy left, etc...

Sony probably didn't want this studio stuck with Dreams when clearly it was going nowhere and part of the studio wasn't happy with the decision and left.
Media Molecule lost its relevancy once they stopped making LittleBigPlanet to start workin on Dreams and wasted a decade on this...

I'm playing Sackboy right now and wondering how did this amazing studio wasted years of their talent on something as irrelevant as Dreams.

Whatever money they made with this, can't be enough for a decade wasted. What they do next will dictate the future of this studio.

If it's another flop, it will close.

 

[Punished Miku]

They are starting a new IP...not everyone is happy with it probably.
Same thing happened when Days Gone didn't have a sequel. Same thing happened when Uncharted 4 was rebooted and Amy left, etc...

Sony probably didn't want this studio stuck with Dreams when clearly it was going nowhere and part of the studio wasn't happy with the decision and left.
Media Molecule lost its relevancy once they stopped making LittleBigPlanet to start workin on Dreams and wasted a decade on this...

I'm playing Sackboy right now and wondering how did this amazing studio wasted years of their talent on something as irrelevant as Dreams.

Whatever money they made with this, can't be enough for a decade wasted. What they do next will dictate the future of this studio.

If it's another flop, it will close.

I don't believe MM made Sackboy.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Is this where MM becomes a support studio for Sony's new GaaS push?

lol no.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

I don't believe MM made Sackboy.

Exactly...someone else did work on their own IP while their talent was being wasted on Dreams.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Probably for the best. Media Molecule needs a new path honestly, Dreams just didn’t work out and it was in dev for a long ass time.

Hopefully new blood carves an exciting new path.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Dreams got abandoned and now the old leadership is leaving. It's because either:

(1) MM is being shut down, or
(2) Jimbo and Hermen are rebuilding the studio so they can make proper games more consistently.

If it is the latter, I'm happy about it.

MM hasn't made a proper game in almost a decade, and they have been pretty useless to be honest. If they can see a resurgence and find their niche like Team Asobi / Japan Studios, it'd be great.

 

[LordCBH]

Dreams was such an obnoxious waste of time and money.

 

[reksveks]

Wondering where he is going?

I am not really, it's pretty obvious

 

[ReBurn]

Is this where MM becomes a support studio for Sony's new GaaS push?

This is where they get the Evolution Studios and Japan Studio treatment most likely.

 

[Unknown?]

Should've cut this way before even looking at Japan Studio.

Japan Studios has been unorganized for even longer though. They really haven't been focused since the PS2 days. After that they had way too many teams doing way too many things and never really released anything outside of side projects or collaborations with 3rd parties.

 

[tmlDan]

They are the most stagnant studio under Sony's banner, its prob a good thing he left.

 

[Punished Miku]

Japan Studios has been unorganized for even longer though. They really haven't been focused since the PS2 days. After that they had way too many teams doing way too many things and never really released anything outside of side projects or collaborations with 3rd parties.

I'll never understand closing down a studio that put out Gravity Rush 2. Its still one of the best looking PS4 games. Its not like they were totally incompetent. I just disagree.

 

[fermcr]

Wondering where he is going?

I am not really, it's pretty obvious

Where is he going?

Skull and Bones - Ubisoft ?
Sea of Thieves - Rare ?
Return to Monkey Island ?
Sid Meier's Pirates ?
New game... ???

 

[Roxkis_ii]

You know what, looking at Dreams, it made me feel sad. All those creative tools locked to a console just seems like such a waste.

 

[onQ123]

Love them but I'm surprised they haven't been shut down because they are like the only Sony Studio that didn't sky rocket with the PS4 & lived to tell about it.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Sony is doomed!!! Now they'll only have exactly the same amount of games as they had originally planned.

 

[diffusionx]

Japan Studios has been unorganized for even longer though. They really haven't been focused since the PS2 days. After that they had way too many teams doing way too many things and never really released anything outside of side projects or collaborations with 3rd parties.

Japan Studio could have been reorganized though, they had talent there and most importantly shipped games.

MM... like, do they even have game dev talent anymore? They haven't actually made a game in a decade. We know they can build an engine creation tool wankfest thing that nobody cares about (except Mark Healey, maybe) but that's not a game. If you work in games because you like making games, and made say Tearaway why would you stay at that studio?

 

[ozz ex machina]

He's really good at pissing money up the wall. Maybe he should get into crypto.

 

[fermcr]

Opps! Wrong post...

Was adding a post for a 30 min youtube video about Dead Island 2...
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/dead-island-2-the-first-11-minutes.1655278/#post-267839390

 

[Roman Empire]

Where is he going?

Skull and Bones - Ubisoft ?
Sea of Thieves - Rare ?
Return to Monkey Island ?
Sid Meier's Pirates ?
New game... ???

Obviously is Skull and Bones hahaha. I guess that game is dead on arrival so it'd be hard to imagine he'd leave for something like that. Rare would be my best option. I just know the dude will work on something pirate-related.

 

[Punished Miku]

Obviously is Skull and Bones hahaha. I guess that game is dead on arrival so it'd be hard to imagine he'd leave for something like that. Rare would be my best option. I just know the dude will work on something pirate-related.

Rare and MM are both UK studios. Probably a safe guess.

 

[Unknown?]

Japan Studio could have been reorganized though, they had talent there and most importantly shipped games.

MM... like, do they even have game dev talent anymore? They haven't actually made a game in a decade. We know they can build an engine creation tool wankfest thing that nobody cares about (except Mark Healey, maybe) but that's not a game. If you work in games because you like making games, and made say Tearaway why would you stay at that studio?

They were, into Team Asobi. The other function of the studio went to Xdev Asia.

I agree with you on the MM bit though. They've focused on one game for far too long.

 

[SmokedMeat]

You know what, looking at Dreams, it made me feel sad. All those creative tools locked to a console just seems like such a waste.

Isn’t this exactly the direction Fortnite is splintering off into? Creating cool shit in Unreal 5?

 

[HTK]

Good. Maybe this studio actually makes a game I buy because up to this point nothing of value has come from them. They were like a glorified indie studio with nothing to show for as a critical success.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Where is he going?

Skull and Bones - Ubisoft ?
Sea of Thieves - Rare ?
Return to Monkey Island ?
Sid Meier's Pirates ?
New game... ???

Must be Rare...quite close to each other aren't they, and a perfect fit for him really.

 

[SleepySlippy]

4 co-founders or directors leaving in 2 years is perfectly normal

4! My god that's a tremendous amount of people.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Welcome to team green.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

So he’s Bouncing one from one project going nowhere to the next.

MM should have kept going when they decided to make Tearaway. Stand-alone single player releases with Nintendo level charm

Hopefully they go back to that approach

 

[DenchDeckard]

Imagine if he gets some creative freedom in sea of thieves....The foundation is already there, maybe he can come up with some magic for customization. Fits his whimsical style too.

 

[diffusionx]

Yeah. It's nothing new...
...unless that happens with Xbox studio.

Then it is doom & gloom and mismanagement

Also. Looks like this guy is going to Rare? He liked a tweet that "welcomed" him there.

Didn't Rare show off Everwild and then say "we are now going to figure out what this game is"? Sounds like he is perfect for that studio.

 

[Jimmyisback]

This is a case of Sony studio mismanagement. Sony does not know what to do with media molecule. I wouldn't be surprised of they shut the studio down with a year. They have been a money sink for a long while now.

 

[kuncol02]

So he’s Bouncing one from one project going nowhere to the next.

MM should have kept going when they decided to make Tearaway. Stand-alone single player releases with Nintendo level charm

Hopefully they go back to that approach

Get some help man. Seriously.

 

[Punished Miku]

Imagine if he gets some creative freedom in sea of thieves....The foundation is already there, maybe he can come up with some magic for customization. Fits his whimsical style too.

I think he's had a little bit too much creative freedom, personally.

 

[Mr Hyde]

MM should be out on either a sequel to Tearaway or a sequel to Puppeteer. No questions asked.

 

[Astray]

Dreams was an absolute flop and heads have to roll for those.

Media Molecule is getting 343'd here.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

This is a case of Sony studio mismanagement. Sony does not know what to do with media molecule. I wouldn't be surprised of they shut the studio down with a year. They have been a money sink for a long while now.

MM is a small studio

I don’t think they’ll get shut down. It would have happened by now.

Founders just got told to start making real games and I guess they didn’t like that approach

 

[DenchDeckard]

I think he's had a little bit too much creative freedom, personally.

Yeah, you are right. Dreams was a little too far....Probably a great pitch idea that was allowed to run away a bit too far. Was a cool idea, but not something you can sink 10s of millions into.