Sony Shuts Down LittleBigPlanet 3 Servers, Nuking Fan Creations

Sony has indefinitely taken down PlayStation 4 servers for platform and puzzle games LittleBigPlanet 3announced the company in an update to one of its support pages. The permanent shutdown comes just months after the servers were temporarily taken offline due to ongoing issues. Fans now fear that hundreds of thousands of player creations not saved locally could be lost for good.

“Due to ongoing technical issues that caused the LittleBigPlanet 3 servers for PlayStation 4 to be temporarily offline in January 2024, the decision has been made to keep the servers offline indefinitely,” Sony wrote in the update, first spotted by Deleted games. “All online services, including access to other players’ creations for LittleBigPlanet 3 are no longer available. »

The 2014 sequel featuring Sackboy and other crafted creatures was beloved for the creativity and flexibility it offered players to create their own platforming levels. The game’s offline features will remain available, as will user-generated content stored locally. However, players won’t be able to share them or access data stored on Sony’s servers, which likely makes up the majority of user-generated content for the game.

While the servers for the PS3 version of the game were initially shut down in 2021 due to ongoing DDOS attacks, the PS4 servers remained open until January 2024 when malicious mods threatened the security of the game. “We are temporarily taking Little big planet servers offline while we investigate a number of issues reported to us,” the game’s Twitter account announced at the time. “If you have been affected by these issues, please be assured that we are aware of them and are working to resolve them for everyone affected.”

Some players feared the closure would become permanent. It now appears they were right.

“Nearly 16 years of user-generated content, millions of levels, some with millions of games and hearts,” wrote longtime player Weeni-Tortellini. on Reddit in January. “Absolutely iconic levels locked forever with no way to relive them. For me, server shutdowns are a big part of the problem. Little big planetthe story. Personally, I created many levels when I was a child. Digital relics of what made me as creative as I am today, and the only access to those levels I have is through the servers. I would be devastated if I never got to experience them again.

The permanent closure comes as online services for many other older games are also being removed. Nintendo took offline multiplayer for Wii U and 3DS games earlier this month, impacting games like Splatoon And Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Ubisoft came under fire last week for not only shutting down the servers of an always-online racing game. The crewbut revoke PC players’ licenses on the game itself Also.

“This is understandably a very sad day for all of us involved in Little big planet and I am convinced that many feel the same way. tweeted community manager Steven Isbell. “I am always here to listen and I will take the time over the next few weeks to reach out to the community and listen to anyone who wants to speak.”

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