Media Molecule becomes a wholly-owned Sony first-party studio

by Andrew Yoon on Mar 2nd 2010 12:10PM

A lot of developers have earned publishing deals with Sony this generation, but only a small handful have managed to deliver a real "blockbuster." (Sorry, Lair and Heavenly Sword.) Three million copies, two million levels, and one Game of the Year edition later, Sony Computer Entertainment has decided to purchase LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule. The Guildford-based studio will join the ranks of other SCEE teams, such as London Studio, Guerrilla Games and Evolution Studios.

While Media Molecule is no longer an independent studio, Michael Denny, Senior VP of Sony Worldwide Studios promised to continue supporting the team: "Media Molecule will simply continue to make great games. Welcoming Media Molecule into the PlayStation family will allow us to better support their future titles and ambitions."

The acquisition likely guarantees that Media Molecule will continue to work on the LittleBigPlanet "platform" for years to come -- although we hope SCEE allows the team to explore creating new franchises as well. Of course, considering the ambitious plans the team has for LBP, it seems Media Molecule will have their hands full for quite a long time.

Source

Tags: acquisition, littlebigplanet, media-molecule, scee, sony-computer-entertainment, sony-computer-entertainment-europe

Reader Comments (91)

Interested to see what else the studio can produce.

Yeah, I wish Sony bough Mm sooner; maybe they could of made a PSP version which was actually good.

This kind of reminds me of when MS bought up Rare, except Rare had a much longer list of games on their resume at the time. Will be interesting to see what MM can cook up in the future under Sony's watch.

Except MS destroyed Rare. That's not likely to happen here.

I disagree. Rare was already on a downward spiral IMO.

@ryan, agreed. under MS, Rare has produced 1 really good franchise, i dont think they would have done any better as a 3rd party the way they were looking right before the buyout.

Well, losing the ability to use Nintendo IP's didn't help any.

PDZ would have been impressive as a Gamecube game, though.

Rare is hitting rock bottom and Bungie is walking out the door, what next >.

Good grief, I didn't say anything bad about Sony, PS3, or MM... what's with the down-voting? Touchy subject?

But I'm curious: how did MS ruin Rare? So far as I can see, Rare seems like they've been mostly able to continue doing their own thing since the takeover - it's not like they got relegated into making an infinite number of Halo sequels, like Bungie has.

You must think we're stupid, Marty.

That, or you don't realize how many people remember your comments from previous PS3 posts.

I commend Rare for being original this gen, but I couldn't say any of the games they've made other then Perfect Dark have been what I call outstanding personally. Fun, yeah, outstanding, no, not really :/

Rare has done a Conker port, a Banjo spinoff, and Kameo.

Compare that to their past.

They're dead.

And Bungie no longer is obligated to make Halo, which is why Reach is the last title in the series for them.

Bring us conkers Bad Fur Day 2... and all can be forgotten. I would even buy a 360 solely for that game!

Yeah, Nintendo unloaded Rare for a reason. They saw what was coming.

LOL@ fools talking about RARE being dead. Just because you haven't played a new Battletoads or Killer Instinct in a decade doesn't mean the studio isn't flourishing. They poured a ton of energy into the woefully underrated (and decidedly not just for kids) Viva Pinata series, and the new Banjo game was awesome.

Microsoft cut Rare a check and let them do what they wanted. And Rare did great. And I trust we'll see a Rare-ssaince come Natal. So stay tuned.

Honestly, what are you talking about, Wiizer?

We've all made comments partial to one system or another at some point. I don't think that warrants everything I say to be instantly voted down.

That fact stands that I didn't say anything partial here. People voting me down just because they disagree with things I've said in the past need to get a life.

I'm honestly surprised they waited this long to make the deal. That being said, I excitedly await for what MM decides to bring us next.

i really want to see what game comes out next from this studio

Hey, Sony! I hear two guys who happen to have made a billion dollar franchise are looking for employment...and I bet they know some guys who would be happy to jump ship to work for Sony...

Lol, I doubt it. If anything they would go to Microsoft.

Yeah, but I hear they are insubordinate. The ornery type. Like, they
have no respect for Duty and...Calls.. Yeah, I hear they don't return
Calls. No Duty, and no Calls.

The same Microsoft who has...what, two internal studios? They prefer to buy exclusives.

Exactly. I'm sure MS would be more than happy to strengthen their first party titles.

After they shut them all down due to costs? Hard to say. Ballmer isn't in a spending mood at the moment.

Excuse my ignorance. But what studios did they shut down?

@Traceur_Ryuk,

Microsoft closed both Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires, Halo Wars) and ACES (Flight Sim) recently.

ACES Game Studio: Microsoft Flight Simulator series, Combat Flight Simulator series and Microsoft Train Simulator series. Disbanded January 23, 2009.
Ensemble Studios: Age of Empires series, Age of Mythology, Halo Wars. Disbanded on January 29, 2009.
Carbonated Games: Developed for MSN Games and Windows Live Messenger. Disbanded on March 27, 2008.
Digital Anvil: Brute Force, Freelancer. Disbanded on January 31, 2006.
Hired Gun: Halo 2 for Windows Vista. Disbanded in October 2007.
FASA Studio: MechWarrior series. Disbanded on September 12, 2007.
Indie Built: Amped series, Links series, Top Spin series. Sold off to Take-Two Interactive in October 2004, now disbanded.

Mainly part of their plot to murder PC gaming. Guess how many PC games Microsoft developed or published in 2008? 0. In 2009? Three minor titles.

Dr Blight - Why would MS want to cut PC gaming's throat? Windows is a major player in the PC gaming world.

I think they cut their PC focus because it's simply not as profitable. Not as any intentional move to disrupt PC gaming.

Why wouldn't they? Windows is here to stay.

PC gaming doesn't bring them revenue like the Xbox, which they own lock, stock, and barrel.

Marty, I wouldn't blame it on PC gaming being not profitable strictly, 360s and PC share the same programming more or less, they could have just switched those subsidaries over to 360 development, AOE on 360, not a bad concept, I'd buy into that. Unfortunatly it will never happen.

I don't know what Microsoft has up thier sleeves, but first party wise, things are looking a bit thin, and while they say Sony is focusing too much on first parties, I think Sony and Nintendo are being somewhat realistic, there will come a time when the only thing exclusive will be DLC, its already happening, Development is just getting far too expensive and developers are not always getting the pay packages they would like. Its been the focus of Joystiq news over the last few weeks.

@Monkey - DLC? What about first party titles? Those are instant exclusives, and the hottest property consoles have.

I'm just saying that MS is focusing on Xbox because it's better business than PC gaming - I just don't think they deliberately trying to cut off PC gaming.

The moneyhatting joke (and beef) was about purchased exclusivity, not so much about buying studios.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/10/23/

This is good news. With this Sony will probably raise their budget.

Good call snapping up the developer of Ragdoll Kung Fu and a sloppy DIY platformer. Keep farming those Steam indie devs.

...words fail me.

This seems to be happening more frequently.

So, when they bought Naughty Dog, was that a mistake too?

It's onan! The arbarian!

LBP, sloppy? Lolwut?

Trolls gonna troll.

But I agree with the part about Ragdoll Kung Fu, ugh... First game I've ever owned that is unplayable without friends.

Except they didn't make Rag Doll Kung Fu. Yeah, it was their idea, but a different studio made it.

I dunno. I thought it was pretty fun. (And just in case you didn't know they didn't develop the PS3 one)

Anyways, it's great that Sony does help smaller devs to realize their potential. I remember at GDC when Phil Harrison introduced LBP I was in awe.

LBP hardly had what I'd call tight platforming. Creative outlet sure, but it's no Mario, it's not even a Crash Bandicoot in that regard.

sloppy?! haha I'm sure everybody is going to take your opinions seriously from now on

I have a strong feeling that you have never played LBP

I actually got it as a day one purchase. Got bored with it on day one too and haven't touched it since. The foreground/background thing never worked exactly how I wanted it to, included levels would break randomly, and aside from being charming, it wasn't very fun when it came to the platforming.

That said, this is still a better business decision than purchasing Rare. :)

"but it's no Mario, it's not even a Crash Bandicoot in that regard."

And that's a bad thing HOW ???

Perhaps because Microsoft has more money than many governments?

That's because a lot of the times MS are total doucheholes about it

Mainly because, buying a studio is different than buying a timed exclusive.

Dear Joystiq: Don't hyphenate "-ly" adverbs. As in, "wholly owned."

When sony buys a studio they seem to nourish it, even if that means supporting risky ideas more resources and time to polish it. People like that.

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Media Molecule becomes a wholly-owned Sony first-party studio

Reader Comments (91)

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:16PM SamE said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 2:10PM NathanDTS said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:16PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:19PM Dr Blight said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 2:01PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:27PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:29PM Dr Blight said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:34PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:50PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:55PM Durr Durrington said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:59PM Dr Blight said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 2:12PM FredFredrickson said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 2:26PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 5:14PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:24PM spin cycle said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:26PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:32PM onan said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:34PM Dr Blight said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:39PM sigma8 said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:41PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:43PM Ashitaka said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:49PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:53PM onan said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 1:04PM TraceurRyuk Prepping for LBP2 said

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Posted: Mar 2nd 2010 12:48PM eat it said

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