Many moons in the past, Microsoft once had its eye on the Sony-published LittleBigPlanet sequence.
Speaking with MinnMax, Mark Healey – who co-founded LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule again in 2006 – revealed that throughout the early levels of the sport, the Xbox maker was “on the prowl” and was “kind of trying to steal” the studio from going with Sony.
“The funny thing is, we actually didn’t have anything in writing to say that we were actually going to continue with [Sony] or that they even owned what we were doing, is my memory of it,” Healey stated of LittleBigPlanet, earlier than sharing extra on Microsoft’s poaching efforts.
“Technically, we could have done [that]. We could have been like, ‘Yeah fuck it, let’s go with Microsoft. They are probably going to give us a load of money.'”
However, Healey stated Media Molecule would not have felt proper doing that, including it will have been “morally corrupt”. As to how this proposition from Microsoft really appeared, effectively, it wasn’t with the slide of a contract and a sly wink. Rather, it was a booze-infused pitch on the finish of a night time out.
“[Media Molecule and a Microsoft representative] went out and got a bit drunk, and it was literally just as we were dropping the guy off at his hotel, he was kind of like ‘Oh shit, I was on a mission here! I’ve got to at least say something’,” Healey recalled.
“And he was just, ‘Oh you, by the way, guys, you know we would be happy to blah blah blah take you on if you want to jump ship to us’ or something like that. And you could tell he was almost embarrassed to say it actually, because it would have been a very naughty thing to do. And, obviously, we didn’t because, you know, we are nice people and we were very grateful that Sony gave us that chance.”
When requested if the rep had stayed sober and given a good pitch, might LittleBigPlanet have change into a Microsoft venture, Healey stated no. “That would never have happened. We’d already built up a good relationship with [Sony], so it was a done deal really,” the developer stated. He additionally mused that, really, there seemingly was some sort of authorized binding in place between Media Molecule and Sony on the time after all.
You can try the total interview under.
Healey left Media Molecule after 17 years, in 2023. His announcement got here quickly after Media Molecule revealed it was set to discontinue stay assist for Dreams.
Earlier this yr, it was reported that a PC and a PlayStation 5 model of Dreams had been beforehand in improvement. However, these plans are now not occurring, with the choice to abandon work on this venture made alongside layoffs at Media Molecule final yr.
