Media Molecule co-founder and Dreams director Mark Healey has left the studio

Media Molecule co-founder and creative director Mark Healey has confirmed that he is leaving the studio.
In a series of tweets, Healey – who directed Dreams – wrote: “So, after 17 incredible years of co-birthing and building Media Molecule, I have decided it is time for me to fly the nest – set sail and chart a new course – today is my last day at MM."

[Lightning77]

Best of luck in your future endevors. I think we'll get a teaser of their next game come Sony's showcase.

Would be cool if it was a cross over game between Sack Boy and Astro Bot.

[IamTylerDurden1]

I'm not surprised considering Dreams was just essentially killed.

[Crows90]

How long has the game been active?....

That's what I thought.

[--Onilink--]

@Crows90

3 years?… you make it sound like its some kind of really old game (and that it somehow proves some point)…

[jukins]

They worked on it since 2011 after lbp2 released. Probably some work done it while doing lbp2. So they got 12 years of runway for one risky title. It released it flopped sony STILL supported it while they improved and added to it . 1 "game" 12 years.

In that same time frame naughty dog alone released uc3 uc4 lost legacy tlou, tlou remasted tlou2 tlou pt1 and factions will be out before MM next game. Now i get MM is no naughty dog. But 1 "game" 12 years is insane especially considering how bad it flopped and how obscure it is as a game. But yet they still had 12 years. And now sony is like ok thats enough we need something we can sell the co founder wants to take his ball and go home? Cant think of any other word but ungrateful

[Army_of_Darkness]

I feel Sony jumped the gun on MM.. They are essentially a one hit wonder with little big planet. Everything else they released has been mediocre at best and Now that the co-founder has left, they should shift their Direction from the emphasis of user created content (because MOST people these days don't have time for that) and create something completely new.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Good luck in your future endeavors man

[GamingSinceForever]

Crazy when people feel the need to leave what they helped start.

[Reaper22_]

It's not crazy. It's just life. It happens all the time.

[Obscure_Observer]

"Crazy when people feel the need to leave what they helped start."

Yeah, just a few weeks ago, Shinji Mikami left Xbox and PS fanboys were all over it throwing stones at the top of their little glass houses, saying MS has a talent retention problem, bad management of first party studios, lack of creative freedom and blah blah blah.

When the same thing happens at Playstation Studios, the hypocrites are no where to be found!

Yeah, what goes around, comes around. They have eggs on their faces now!

He only thanked his team at Media Molecule. He´ll continue and develop/create games. Looks like Playstation is not the perfect land of freedom that some PS fanboys love to portray.

[Chevalier]

How so? Playstation studios are pretty well run. Can't really say that with the mess that is Xbix games studios now can you? Xbox can't release many games first of all and also have constant delays. Incredible how poorly managed Xbox game studios is overall.

[porkChop]

@Obscure

I don't think we need to make it an Xbox vs PS thing.

@Chevalier

That's really not fair regarding delays. Sony has delayed pretty much every game in the past few years as well. That's an industry-wide problem. I agree Xbox has been a bit of a mess but delays aren't exclusively an Xbox problem.

[ironmonkey]

didnt another big name from halo leave? Looks like xbox is not the perfect land of freedom that some xbox fanboys love to portray.

[Vanfernal]

It must be exhausting watching everything through fanboy console war goggles. You people need to grow up and stop crying about this stuff on every article.

[gold_drake]

how did the sony vs ms conversation start?
it has absolutely nothing to do with that

[Chevalier]

@Porkchop

My point really is that Xbox is mismanaged to the point that they have the MOST studios owned, but, have the least games released. Nintendo and Playstation release games regularly whereas Xbox does not. That's FACT.

[goldwyncq]

I know right?! How dare they leave the past behind to pursue new and exciting things? They should just do what they've been doing over and over again until the day they die.

[GamingSinceForever]

What I said obviously went over your head. That wasn't even remotely close to the point I was making.
It's ok though. I'll let you believe you're intelligent for the moment.

[Welshy]

Good luck on whatever is next, big thanks for all the hours of fun I had over the years with the LBP games with my mates.

Looking forward to your future projects 👍

[mandf]

Unpopular opinion

LittleBigPlanet was the best game on the ps3, 360 and wii gen. That game will be my retirement

[Welshy]

THE best is a bit bold, but it's definitely one of the best. Up there with the best PS3 exclusives for sure, just straight up fun that's impossible not to be taken in by its cheery tone and community.

[mandf]

My best that's why I said unpopular opinion

[Welshy]

I'm not saying it can't be your favourite, I was just giving my take on it is all. It's a great game to have as a personal favourite, as I said, I absolutely love it too.

No take that gives LBP it's due respect is unpopular in my opinion 👍

[Eidolon]

One of the greats on PS3, LBP2 as well. LBP3 wasn't as good... dumbed down even... and this Sackboy Big Adventure is something else. Still have not seen anything like LBP1 since and it could have continued to be great if they stuck with the formula, evolved it, instead of dumbing it down.

[Abnor_Mal]

I wonder if his departure from the studio is a result of Sony not porting Dreams to PS5 and PC since they’re making a push into the pc space.

Dreams could have been much bigger than what it was left to be in its “walled garden”. What a shame.

[mandf]

Games happen all the time only on one platform. Pc not getting it is part of the industry. Media molecule has been very successful and mark had a good career there. I highly doubt not coming to pc was it. People move on all the time without nefarious reasons.

[generic-user-name]

That's a couple big names leaving Mm now, presumably over the shuttering of Dreams.

Sony had a lot of patience for Dreams last gen, practically took the whole PS4 gen to release, was allegedly rebooted 3 times in development and when it did release it never really took off. It had a marketing problem I think, instead of showing off the cute fluffy teddy bear with a whacky hammer, they should have been showing off the photorealistic stuff their community was dropping jaws with.

I don't understand why it never went to PS+ or why they never tried to let creators monetise their games on the PS Store or something. Massive potential squandered, especially with never getting to take advantage of the PS5/PSVR2 improvements. Wouldn't be surprised if Mm are the next studio that Sony shuts down.

[KeeseToast]

Jim Ryan appears to primarily focus on PlayStation's blockbuster exclusives, which, to be fair, have been performing remarkably well. However, I find myself nostalgic for the diverse range of PS exclusives we once had, featuring quirky, smaller titles like Tokyo Jungle, rain, and Puppeteer. Dreams, for instance, seems to have been approved under a significantly different leadership.

Both The Last of Us and the original Horizon Zero Dawn were once considered major risks for their respective studios, but ultimately proved to be incredibly successful. It is crucial that Sony continues to embrace such risk-taking when developing their exclusives. While Returnal does suggest a willingness to take bigger risks, I hope this trend continues in the future.

[generic-user-name]

Maybe PSVR2 is where they take their biggest risks this gen.

[P_Bomb]

Good points all ‘round.

[Stanjara]

Jim Ryan went into the studio...