Michael Cripe
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Sony has confirmed that LittleBigPlanet 3 servers on PlayStation 4 will remain offline “indefinitely” following troubles with the service from earlier this year.
The company updated fans on the bad news in an update on its website (via Delisted Games), explaining that the temporary server shutdown in January will now be in effect for the foreseeable future. It’s a decision that means millions of user-generated levels will no longer be accessible to new players. Sony cites “ongoing technical issues” as the reason for its choice to discontinue support.
Creation content that has been stored on players’ devices locally can still be accessed, with users also still free to create content and play it while disconnected from the servers. PlayStation also guides LittleBigPlanet fans to offline features should they wish to continue playing in some form.
As players eventually flock to new experiences, games have been known to lose connection to certain online features in the years following their releases. Lack of server access to the LittleBigPlanet games is an especially large blow, though, as they’re known for their endless ocean of player-generated content like levels and outfits. LittleBigPlanet 3 even allowed players to enjoy user-generated levels from the previous two entries.
PlayStation 3 players lost access to that content when Sony moved to shut down PS3 servers for LittleBigPlanet 1, 2, and 3 in 2021, and now, the PS4 version of the third game is suffering the same fate. With servers shutting down indefinitely, it means that there is no official way to see the content players have been creating since the original LittleBigPlanet launched in 2008. LittleBigPlanet 3 launched for PS3 and PS4 in 2014.
There’s no telling exactly how much user-generated content was pumped into the game since its release, but in February 2017, more than seven years ago, Sony boasted that the game featured more than 10 million levels. It’s unclear exactly how many were lost today.
Thankfully, LittleBigPlanet 3 isn’t completely unplayable without its servers. Although its now-lost library of content was its premiere offering, players can still download and enjoy its story mode, which, in our review, we estimate offers around seven-to-eight hours of fun. We gave Sumo Digital’s Sony installment a 6.8 upon its release, calling it a “a beautifully-designed game with a great creation toolkit, LittleBigPlanet 3 is let down by unimaginative co-op & bugs.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.