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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

GLHF sources say UK game developer Media Molecule plans a round of layoffs with around 20 jobs being on the chopping block. Targeting a headcount of 115 employees, this is a significant reduction from the roughly 135-strong workforce. Employees were informed about this in an internal meeting today, on October 24, 2023.

Founded in 2006, Media Molecule was acquired by Sony in 2010, becoming part of PlayStation Studios. It’s best known for developing the LittleBigPlanet series, a puzzle platformer with a big emphasis on content created by its users. The original LittleBigPlanet, released in 2008, won several awards and was likely the catalyst for Sony seeking to integrate the studio fully into its own operations. The company had already helped kickstart Media Molecule with initial funding after being presented with a prototype of its first game.

In 2020, the studio released Dreams, a sandbox game with extensive game creation tools for users. Dreams allows players to make some pretty impressive games by themselves, but it seems like this recipe wasn’t leading to financial success. Back in April 2023, Media Molecule announced that it would stop supporting Dreams starting in September 2023.

Media Molecule is currently developing a new game, though other than the project not being in any way related to Dreams nothing certain is known about it.

This bad news comes a day after Sony triumphantly announced that Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was the fastest-selling first-party launch in PlayStation history. Fellow UK studios Frontier and Creative Assembly are currently undergoing restructuring with job losses as well.

https://videogames.si.com/news/media-molecule-layoffs

 

[Mr Moose]

Damn, they are bigger than I thought. 135? I thought there was about 40.

 

[Wastelander92]

It's crazt that they never brought Dreams to PC. Made basically the most sense of all their first party games.

 

[Tsaki]

Pity, though I'm surprised Sony has been so lenient with them. Studios have been closed for more than MM has achieved the past decade. It seems every studio has to pull their own weight and not hope for others to support them financially.

 

[wipeout364]

Media molecule is an interesting company, very distinct artistic style and interesting tech, that said I have not enjoyed actually playing any of the games they have created. Props to Sony for keeping them afloat when anyone else would have shut them down years ago.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Sad news as they are one of my fav Sony developers... Just hope all the affected people can find something else in the industry quickly.

 

[Mownoc]

Not surprising really. They haven't had big success since LittleBigPlanet 2. They've basically just done Tearaway in 2013 and Dreams in 2020. Neither remotely close to the success of lbp.

While dreams is very cool I think it was a mistake to devote that much time and resources to it. I mean there's 7 years between the release of Tearaway and Dreams.

 

[adamsapple]

Sad but not surprising. Hope the effected land on their feet.

 

[lh032]

ngl, the last game i bought from them is dreams and its collecting dust now.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Maybe they don't need a marketing dept right now. They didn't let everyone go.

 

[Horseganador]

The strange thing is that they have not closed them seeing their results, almost 10 years have been wasted with Dreams.

 

[ArtHands]

No shock at all

 

[RyRy93]

That’s a shame, they make interesting games but they don’t always cater to the mainstream and have weak IPs

 

[envyzeal]

They should be glad the studio didn’t shut down, considering their track record.

 

[Ronin_7]

Surprised they're still open.

No hit since LBP2.

SONY is very generous.

 

[Holammer]

This is what I (and many others) expected when Jaffe talked about bad news.
Also not unexpected. They haven't delivered much in years, even the Japanese studios look productive by comparison.

 

[AlphaDump]

A talented studio that lost their focus with keeping Dreams on life support. They need to reshift their focus to be more like Housemarque and do more bite sized vertical slice arcade type games.

 

[Heisenberg007]

They have 135 employees? WTF!

Unless they get their act right, Media Molecule will have to be shut down, and this money needs to be funded in a better way.

They better start acting like a studio of 100+ developers and give us proper kickass games that are in line with the standards set by PlayStation Studios.

 

[envyzeal]

Make a new Tearaway, focus on smaller projects, keep it simple.

 

[Heisenberg007]

This is what I (and many others) expected when Jaffe talked about bad news.
Also not unexpected. They haven't delivered much in years, even the Japanese studios look productive by comparison.

But is this even bad news?

Media Molecule has been sucking money and not producing anything for some time now. If Sony were to use this money to fund other games, we'd have gotten 1-2 extra games this generation by now.

 

[Xtib81]

Sad for the employees but I'm surprised the studio is still Alive tbh.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Not surprising given they are on the very early stages of their next game. Having that many people on pre-production seems unnecessary.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Make a new game with a real character this time and people will buy it. Sackboy: a big adventure is exactly the kind of games they should have being doing during all those years.

 

[LordCBH]

I’m shocked. They spent what, a decade on Dreams and it kinda bombed?

 

[Spyxos]

Oh noe, i am still wating for a real Little Big Planet game. Dreams was quite nice, but I wasn't for me.

 

[fart town usa]

I appreciate MM but unless you enjoy using their creator tools, the "games" they release play like trash IMO. Unless they're contributing to tech for other 1st party studios, they seem like a complete waste for Sony.

 

[Doczu]

That's quite a big Sack, Boy!

 

[CGNoire]

ngl, the last game i bought from them is dreams and its collecting dust now.

Dreams is really for creators using it to realize there dream projects far more than it is for consumers.

 

[Little Chicken]

I'm surprised this hadn't happened sooner.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

I figured we'd hear about a studio closure by now, so this is good news, comparatively. Their next project is probably make or break for the studio.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Like clockwork...

I enjoyed Sackboy, but agree with others here that have said they needed to do more to carry their weight around.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Damn....

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I hope people realize that Media Molecule didn't make Sackboy: A Big Adventure

 

[EverydayBeast]

Look at little big planet they were aggressive with the creativity with dreams they broke that down and it was a mistake.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I don't see why people say Dreams "bombed". It's not like it was a game or anything.

But I can see why a studio like MM will see layoffs. They're a talented studio, but not exactly one that produces AAA-titles.

 

[tmlDan]

I hope people realize that Media Molecule didn't make Sackboy: A Big Adventure

which is crazy cause it might be the best LBP game

on topic, sad to see but they havent made a game in so long im surprised it hasnt happened sooner

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

at this point....why not just shut down the studio?

A lot of talent left anyway and you wasted years creating an engine that you are just not going to use anyway... a complete disaster.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I don't see why people say Dreams "bombed". It's not like it was a game or anything.

But I can see why a studio like MM will see layoffs. They're a talented studio, but not exactly one that produces AAA-titles.

It didn't bomb. It mega-imploded

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It didn't bomb. It mega-imploded

I don't even think Sony expected Dreams to sell millions.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I don't even think Sony expected Dreams to sell millions.

is not about selling millions

 

[Killjoy-NL]

is not about selling millions

Then what's it about?

Because Dreams is basically a game-engine.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[LordCBH]

Dreams absolutely made me feel like 40% of media molecule is huffing their own farts like that episode of South Park.

 

[Ozriel]

Then what's it about?

Because Dreams is basically a game-engine.

It’s a game + game creator. Like arguing Mario Maker isn’t a game.

Dreams absolutely made me feel like 40% of media molecule is huffing their own farts like that episode of South Park.

This feels like an unfair characterization. It might have underwhelmed commercially, but as a product it was nothing short of brilliant.

Blame Sony for not putting it on PC to try to capture some of the education market etc. though perhaps I’m looking at things too simplistically and they might have had metrics to show it wouldn’t have done well on PC.

I just think there’s a wider market for stuff like that on PC.

 

[CobraAB]

Sorry to hear this. I loved the first 2 Little Big Planet games. Nephews and nieces loved them too.

But it seems like Dreams just never quite caught on though it was a pretty cool idea.

Yes, it needed to be on PC.

Has there been any chatter what they have been working on?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Then what's it about?

Because Dreams is basically a game-engine.

People didn't even use that shit. the beta they did was a complete failure.

They lost game-making talent.

now they have a useless engine and no people to make games. Dreams destroyed MM

 

[acm2000]

studio was very much a one trick pony but they were at least trying something different even if ultimately its not something many people actually really wanted.

im sure like all the people involved in the industry job cuts will find new homes.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It’s a game + game creator. Like arguing Mario Maker isn’t a game.

I can't comment on Mario Maker, but Dreams isn't a game.

Whatever MM made for the "sp-campaign" was more tech-demo for Dreams' capabilities than anything.

But it's irrelevant, because at the end of the day, Sony is a company that needs revenue and something like Dreams isn't going to cut it.

 

[Roman Empire]

Dreams was a cool project but it wasn't the answer for MM2 as a game studio first. If only they had ported Dreams to PC or turned it into a platform for games and tools beyond the PS ecosystem, then it could easily have gained some ground with things like Fortnite and Roblox.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I thought they'd close down.

They've lost most of their founders and their last released game Dreams (2020) didn't perform well nor did LBP3 (2014) before it. That's nearly 10 years of lackluster performance.

I do think if Dreams had the right model it could have found more success. Should have been F2P.