Sony has announced it’s pulling LittleBigPlanet 3 and all LittleBigPlanet DLC from sale via the PlayStation Store later this month, on 31st October.
LittleBigPlanet 3, which was developed by Sumo Digital rather that series originators Media Molecule, released for PS3 and PS4 back in 2014, meaning it celebrates its tenth anniversary this November. Instead of balloons and a nice bit of cake, however, Sony is marking the occasion with a culling, announcing the game’s imminent demise in a statement shared on X.
While LittleBigPlanet 3 and the “entire range” of DLC will be removed from sale on the PlayStation Store on 31st October, Sony notes anyone who currently owns the game – or who purchases its prior to its delisting – will continue to have access following its removal.
“This is a friendly heads-up that if anyone in the community or any newcomers still wish to own a digital copy of LittleBigPlanet 3 or any LittleBigPlanet DLC currently available,” it added, “this is your last chance to do so.” Back in September, Sony also confirmed LittleBigPlanet 3 would soon be leaving its PS Plus subscription service.
But while it’s always disappointing to see another game vanish into the digital ether, it’s perhaps not entirely unexpected in LittleBigPlanet 3’s case. The series’ servers have been repeatedly targeted by nefarious sorts in recent years – with the community having reported sustained DDOS attacks, offensive error messages, and even exploits enabling malicious users to ban other players – leading Sony to take all but LittleBigPlanet 3’s servers offline in 2021.
However, LittleBigPlanet 3’s servers finally suffered the same fate earlier this year, when Sony announced they’d be offline “indefinitely” due to an “ongoing technical issues” – meaning community created content hasn’t been accessible since the start of 2024.
And with LittleBigPlanet 3 soon set for delisting, it feels like the end of an era for Media Molecule’s original platforming series – although protagonist Sackboy lives on, having popped up more recently in the well-received spin-off Sackboy: A Big Adventure. As for Media Molecule – which laid off approximately 20 percent of its staff last year amid “significant strategic changes” – it’s currently focused on an unannounced new project.