As the X post points out, while characters like Astro Boy, Ratchet, Clank, Nathan Drake, and Aloy are present, among others, Sackboy is missing. For contrast, a screenshot of the same part was posted from the 2023 movie Gran Turismo, which still included Sackboy among the other mascots.

Sony itself hasn’t made any statement about the matter. However, considering the age of the LittleBigPlanet franchise, as well as the fact that we haven’t gotten a new mainline game in the series since the PS3 days, it looks like the company is ready to leave the classic mascot behind. The last major release that featured Sackboy as a playable character was 2020 platformer Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

One of PlayStation’s most notable mascots in recent times has been Astro Bot, thanks in large part to the critical and commercial success of the 2024 platforming game. The character wasn’t successful overnight, however, as Astro Bot had also been in a pair of critically-acclaimed games before that: PlayStationVR title Astro Bot Rescue Mission, and PS5 pack-in title and technical showcase Astro’s Playroom.

Since the success of Astro Bot, head of developer Team Asobi, Nicolas Doucet, spoke about how other developers should not be scared of making smaller-scaled titles. In a talk during GDC 2025, Doucet mentioned that players these days often tend to have several games in their backlogs owing to digital distribution, and discounts provided by stores like Steam and offers like Humble Bundle.

“From the start, we were in the mindset that it’s OK to make a compact game… it’s OK to make a small game,” said Doucet. “So for us, it means that we’re making something of such scale that we can control it fully. That’s from a development standpoint. But not only that. For the players, we all know that players today have a backlog of games and cannot complete their games, so the prospect of a game you can actually complete is a really persuasive argument.”

At the same event, Doucet also spoke about some of the earlier iterations of the game Astro Bot, one of which even featured the now-iconic character getting dismembered. Ultimately, according to Doucet, the game went through 23 iterations before it was shown to top-level management.

“So, at the end of the game, Astro sacrificed himself for the team, and as the credits roll, we wanted to make a very grieving moment of rebuilding Astro,” Doucet said about an early iteration, which would require the idea of a “completely dismembered Astro, so you gained the torso without the head.”

Astro Bot is available exclusively on the PS5. Check out our review for more details. Also check out our review of the PC release of Sackboy: A Big Adventure while you’re at it for more details about the classic mascot.

Mark Healey, the co-founder of Media Molecule, has confirmed on Twitter that he is leaving the studio. Healey says he is looking to “chart a new course” and that he plans to remain in the games industry, but hasn’t provided more details. Whether his departure is related to the decision to end support for Dreams is unknown.

Healey co-founded Media Molecule back in 2006 and has gone on to lead some of the studio’s biggest projects since then, having served as the creative director of LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2, before going on to direct Dreams.

(2/4) From LittleBigPlanet to Dreams and beyond – proud to have played my part and lucky to have jammed with some truly brilliant people – and such a wonderfully talented Community which I will continue to be a fan of…

— Marcos (@marcoshealey) April 17, 2023

https://twitter.com/marcoshealey/status/1647895759222611970

Recently, in fact, Sony took the opportunity to celebrate a notable occasion for Media Molecule’s franchise within Sackboy: A Big Adventure. It was recently confirmed that on November 12, the platformer will be adding another new costume to its ever-growing list of in-game cosmetics. This one will be birthday-themed to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the original LittleBigPlanet, which launched on November 5, 2008. Incidentally, November 12 will also be the one-year anniversary of Sackboy: A Big Adventure itself, so the game will have two things to celebrate.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure has been adding new costumes for free at a pretty regular clip throughout the year, from event celebrations to crossovers with various other first party PlayStation franchises. Interestingly enough, a recent rumour also claimed that the game could be headed to PC in the not-so-distant future.

Currently, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is available on PS5 and PS4.

https://twitter.com/LittleBigPlanet/status/1456652538984423424

Killzone 2

While Guerrilla Games has become well-known for the Horizon series, remastering Killzone 2 for the PS5 seems a given. It’s the game that put the company on the map and its excellent visual fidelity, attention to detail, fun gun play and solid multiplayer would make a smooth transition over to the console. If a new sequel on PS5 isn’t coming any time soon, then it makes sense to revisit Killzone 2 in some capacity.

The main rules to keep in mind for this list are that we deliberately avoided major crossover titles like Smash, PlayStation All Stars and MvC because then it would be no fun, and that really, that fun, is what this is all about, so you probably shouldn’t take it any more seriously than we are, which is not at all.

We begin our journey in the inconspicuous little golf game, Everybody’s Golf 5, perhaps better known in North America as Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds on PS3 takes us for a relaxing day on the links. As it turns out, even patricidal Greeks get a bit of downtime now and then. Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, was introduced to the game in 2008 as a playable DLC character, where he could channel his unquenchable rage into something a bit more productive, using a rather unique chain club. Since this was before 3, I guess he chilled out between his latest PS4 game by taking up pottery instead?

Also, there will be spoilers ahead. I mean, it’s a feature about endings, so you probably knew that, right? If we start talking about a game you don’t want spoiled, watch on at your own risk.

XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 2

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 could have so easily been a game that ends on a depressing note, either on a small scale, or a large scale, or even both, but it stubbornly sticks to the themes and tones it exhibits, and concludes on a surprisingly positive note. In the grand scheme of things, the world of Alrest manages to break free from its never ending cycle of death and decay, while on a more personal level, the story of Rex and Pyra ends on a fitting and cozy “boy meets girl” note.

Media Molecule of LittleBigPlanet fame did not feature their new game Dreams at Sony Interactive Entertainment’s press conference at Paris Games Week. The omission of the game led some journalists to speculate whether the project was dead as reported by Dualshockers. However, the game is very much alive and well. Only 2 months ago, Siobhan Reddy spoke to Rolling Stone about the game and it would seem that the game is making a lot of progress.

During the press panel, Reddy spoke more about the game, “I’m actually really excited about finishing Dreams, and what I’m really excited about is that the dream for a really long time has been to get what we’ve been working on out again, and out into the community, and see what people are gonna make with it.

We’re internally already making really cool stuff with it. I have made two games in the last couple of weeks, FYI… I just feel it’s going to be a creative explosion.”

Dreams is a game that will allow players to basically create whatever they want with the tools they’re given.  Games of entire different genres can be made using it. As such, the focus and appeal of the game is its emphasis on player creativity and creation. The game will likely come to VR as the whole team is very excited about that prospect. However, as of now the priority is to get the game made.

As of now, we have no news regarding a possible release window for the game, but it will be a PS4 exclusive and more information should be available in the coming months.

Sony will be retiring the servers for LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet 3, LittleBigPlanet Portable, LittleBigPlanet Vita, and LittleBigPlanet Karting in Japan, permanently ending all online services and components for the franchise in the nation.

All servers will be taken offline on July 31, 2016- this means that after this date, you will no longer be able to play online, access online features, access community functionality, or upload your own stages. For some of these games, which are less than two years old – LittleBigPlanet 3 only launched on thew PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in 2014, for example.

Services for some games in the franchise will also be ending in the west- LittleBigPlanet Portable goes offline in the west on July 31, while LittleBigPlanet Karting sees its online services ending on August 31.

With this wide discontinuation of online services for games in the franchise, as well as with Media Molecule having moved on to other projects, like Dreams, and the relative failure of LittleBigPlanet 3, it appears as though this may be the end of the road for Sony’s original “play share create” franchise.

Earlier today Double Eleven, the developers behind the PlayStation VITA version of the Sony staple series, LittleBigPlanet, released a teaser via Twitter hinting that an as-of-yet unnamed PS3 exclusive would be making its way to PS VITA/PS4 by way of the development firm.

The Tweet came from Double Eleven founder Lee Hutchinson. When asked if the game in question would be of the shooter genre, Hutchinson replied that he would abstain from answering that question, as the official release of the game’s development for PlayStation VITA and PlayStation 4 is not far off. Once it is announced, we’ll get the scoop.

Also according to Hutchinson is the news that Double Eleven has yet to undertake anything in the realm of Xbox One development. They are strictly working on Sony projects for the time being.

What do you think the mysterious game is? Stay tuned to Gamingbolt to find out when we do.

Source: GearNuke

“There’s no weekly LBP Update today but stay tuned to the @PlayStation Blog because we have an exciting announcement coming tomorrow instead!”

Given how we haven’t really seen much from Media Molecule, except for the upcoming Tearaway which will be coming to the PlayStation Vita on November 22nd for North America and Europe. In terms of LittleBigPlanet, the developer is yet to announce a new sequel to the game.

Given how the studio is owned by Sony and that it will be pushing for its “Play, Create, Share” modicum even more than before given the PS4’s emphasis on sharing – and let’s not forget that Microsoft is promoting the same via Project Spark for the Xbox One – it only makes sense to see the next LittleBigplanet sooner than later.

But will it be announced tomorrow? That remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more.