The LittleBigPlanet series is coming to a sad and subdued end, it feels, as LittleBigPlanet 3 and all the associated DLC are to be delisted from the PlayStation Store on 31st October.

The game will remain playable for anyone that owns the game and has the DLC, but online features have been disabled since the start of 2024, with user generated content inaccessible unless already downloaded and stored on a device.

What’s sad is that it’s bad actors that have ruined the fun of a thoroughly pleasant and beloved series. The issues started back in 2021 when the game servers were hit by what was initially suspected to be a DDoS attack, with intermittent availability over the weeks that followed, as the team maintaining the game sought to implement security fixes. It reached a tipping point when hackers started to leverage their access to display custom error messages on players’ screens with transphobic messages, forcing Sony to take the servers offline while working on a fix. A fix was eventually released for LBP 3 on PS4 specifically and the series’ millions of UGC levels preserved, but the PS3 and handheld versions of the game were lost at that time. Things clearly broke down again this year, and Sony threw in the towel.

It’s not completely the end of the series – Sackboy: A Big Adventure is still for sale – but none of the mainline series of games is available on a current platform and all online servers are offline. There’s no sign or rumours that series creator MediaMolecule will return to LBP, or that Sony intends to partner with a third party like Sumo Digital again.

Source: LittleBigPlanet Twitter