The PS4 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 has suddenly just become the most important game in the LittleBigPlanet franchise. That's because Sony has shut down servers for multiple old titles.
LittleBigPlanet 3, the adorable platforming/level-creating game developed by Sumo Digital, is the third title in the series started by Media Molecule. It has been a difficult year for the series as LittleBigPlanet's servers suffered a DDoS attack in March, to which Sony responded by temporarily shutting down the servers. The problem was eventually resolved, but a series of continued attacks resulted in Sony turning off the servers indefinitely while trying to fix the issue. These attacks did not shut down just one game but practically every playable form of LittleBigPlanet, as the games share servers, hence older levels being able to be imported into newer titles.
A new tweet from the official LittleBigPlanet twitter account confirms that multiple games have been permanently shut down. While once there was no fix in sight for the LittleBigPlanet servers, Sony released an update bringing the PlayStation 4 servers back online, making its more than 10 million user created levels playable once more. This news is unfortunately coupled with the announcement that the online services for LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS3), and LittleBigPlanet PS Vita are all to be permanently shut down. Sony believes "this is the best way to protect the LittleBigPlanet community and to help ensure that our online environment remains safe."
Naturally, many fans are upset by the news, especially due to its abrupt nature. The shutting down of the servers means fans can no longer create new levels and hope to share them online in any of the before mentioned titles. Fortunately, the content that players have already made from that time will not be lost, and is still playable in LittleBigPlanet 3 on PS4. Considering there were already more 6 million user created levels in LittleBigPlanet 2 shortly after it launched in 2012, more than half of what's currently playable is in ownness to those original players.
It truly is unfortunate the way this series of events have played out. While the levels that have already been made are not lost, the ability to create levels in those games has. For the many fans who were still actively working on projects before the servers were shut down, suddenly they just lost all their work. It is easy to blame Sony for a lack of warning, but at the same time, it likely did not know it was turning off the servers for the last time while addressing its attacks. Though Sackboy's adventures continue in Sackboy: A Big Adventure and LittleBigPlanet 3, a part of his history has surely been lost today.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is available on PS3 and PS4.