Dreams Live Support To Be Discountinued In September, As Dev Shifts Focus To A New Project

Media Molecule will no longer provide live support to Dreams starting this September, as the team will shift its focus to a new, yet to be announced, project.

[closed_account]

This is very sad to hear, I had hoped that it would have been a day 1 PSVR2 title that reinvigorated the community.

Hopefully they are working on an evolution of the concept, not just an abandonment.

[crazyCoconuts]

Yeah I'm really surprised. They had such huge ambition here and we haven't heard of anything for so long, I was convinced they were about to release the PS5 "create" functionality that uses Dreams, along with a marketplace to monetize people's creations

[IamTylerDurden1]

Haven't heard anything? There are always new updates.

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

Sorry but no... Unfortunately Dreams was a bust. Time to focus on something new. Media Molecule is a very good developer, no need for them to continue wasting time on this. I'm excited for their next project.

[fr0sty]

I really, really hope that the new game is just as much a revolution on the play create share idea as dreams was to LBP, I will be very disappointed if they're doing some other "Tearaway" or another kind of game. This is what MM does well, they need to stick to it. The market needs a game engine trainer to get new developers going out there. I now make games in UE5 because of Dreams, and I'm sure a lot of talent is being spawned out there by new Dreamers learning how game development works... Sony would be VERY unwise to force MM into another direction, and I fear if they do, they'll end up going the way of Evolution Studios, Zipper, and all the other great Sony studios who made fantastic games but ended up getting disbanded anyway. Sony struck gold with a brand new genre of game with MM, and I sure hope they don't manage to screw that up.

I feel really bad for those who are locked in a months-long or even years long development cycle for their games who now have been abandoned... I personally was in the middle of prepping my VR Bowling Game "We Bowling in VR" to be updated again in the hopes of VR2 support coming, but now that's been trashed. I no longer have a desire to invest more time into this game knowing they're just going to throw it all away, even if we can keep creating in it. I feel this was a big mistake on their end, both MM and Sony... but I'd love to be proven wrong when they do announce the new project. If it isn't a revolution on the PCS genre, and isn't as in-depth or more as Dreams was, I do not want it. Period.

[IamTylerDurden1]

They struck creative gold, not financial gold, and it will die as a result of that. Sadly, the game wasn't a commercial success nor monetized well. Bet that the next game is LB4 or something more limited. Ppl vote with their wallets and they voted Dreams out. Hence the state of our industry. Valheim is a shoe string game no better than a Dreams creation yet is hailed as creative brilliance. 10 mil players. Dreams will fade into the ether. Sad times.

[MadLad]

@durden

Nobody claimed Valheim "creatively brilliant". It was just a really solid survival game that gained traction fast, and now the dev is very, very actively supporting it.
Saying it's no better than a Dream's creation though? Let's be real here. Outside of what MM put out, themselves, using it, your average game was of the quality of the $1 shovelware you'll find dumped on Steam in droves every week.

[fr0sty]

@Mad, that's not to say there were not many thousands of truly amazing experiences produced in Dreams.

I think MM dropped the ball by not promoting those experiences well enough, by not making them accessible enough, and I think Sony dropped the ball by not promoting Dreams at all, as they tend to do with so much of their golden talent. They just kinda left it to die after a few presentations on stage. If they had been smart, Dreams would have been included as a PS4 bundle that carried over to PS5 as well. If monetization was a problem, make it a subscription service for creators... but in return for us having to pay for access to create content in it, we get to take our games and export them to other popular engines like Unreal from there.. The benefit being the user-friendly interface to learn how to make those games, and being able to lean on the community to help with things like asset creation, etc...

It was probably one of the most innovative, ambitious projects ever taken on in gaming, and it died a very unfair death.

Maybe someone at one of those companies will take something from ideas like this... that was Dreams' biggest limitation, no ability to take anything out of it, it was stuck in the Dreamiverse. I would love to port my games to UE5 without having to completely rewrite them from the ground up. I get there are legal challenges to face when taking content out of Dreams, especially content others helped me create that I sourced from the Dreamiverse, but that's something I'd have to sort out upon trying to publish my game to another engine, not Sony. All they have to do is notify other users "This user wants to export a game containing your content to another engine for release, do you approve?", and whoever says no, I have to go back and make that part again myself. Problem solved.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Valheim is not solid. It has the worst character creator ever. It has awful combat, grfx, ai, and mediocre procedural maps. The survival mechanics are average. The production is terrible. The technical quality is that of a Dreams creation. Obviously nobody has made such a fully fledged game but in terms of quality i mean. Valheim is trash. The worst game i have played in years.

[IamTylerDurden1]

You can only support something that isn't financially sustainable for so long. I bought the game EA, day 0 at $30, not a pinch of mtx, and terrible sales. It obviously flopped despite 90 Opencritic. I blame Sony, not Mm. Sony mismanaged a brilliant product.

First, they should've implored Mm to create a more substantial campaign and they should've marketed it as a GAME, not an.....engine?

Second, it needed a PC release long ago. Those tools on PC makes sense.

Third, it needed a rebirth on PS5 at launch. DualSense tinkering. Adding haptic feedback etc to creations day 1 PS5. RTX? Visual fidelity etc. Though the engine probably limits this.

Fourth, it just wasn't marketed well, ever. From the reveal trailer a decade ago to now most ppl dunno what Dreams is. It's a brilliant game that Sony fumbled and now Mm has to make something more limited in order to survive. LBP4 incoming.

Also, the creation was perhaps too ambitious for the masses. It was a lot to learn. I also believe Mm should've focused on annual, highly produced games within the game. once a year at least have a multi hour, legit game with trophies and market it. The bat game was too little too late. Dreams needed more substantial experiences and Mm needed to provide that. I still love Dreams but i'm sad to think what could've been.

[beefynachos]

Yeah I loved creating fun, simple levels in LBP. Dreams was just too overwhelming by comparison for someone that just likes the simplistic tools of LBP.

[ABizzel1]

BRING IT TO PC.

[BandarHub]

This game could have had an audience on PC but of all the games Sony ported they failed to release this one.

[EvertonFC]

Should also have made "dreams" f2p during the pandemic, would have been great for everyone stuck at home during lockdowns.

[IamTylerDurden1]

F2P needs monetization.

[-Foxtrot]

Yeah can’t argue with that

This is the one big PC port they should have done

[LoveSpuds]

Yeah, it does seem like such a strange decision not to release to PC.

[JEECE]

Yep. Some of the stuff people made on Playstation was pretty cool, but for something like this to really take off, it needed to be on PC.

[porkChop]

Yup. What a missed opportunity. Dreams had so much potential. They didn't even release a PS5 version.

[Terry_B]

Really sucks It did not get a PC port. This one has so many possibilities there.

[EvertonFC]

1 game since LBP2 (13 years) has been unacceptable imo, great studio though just mismanaged by Sony.

[BrainSyphoned]

Yes, how dare Sony let them make what they want. They should have been forced to churn out a yearly mind numbing platformer so Sony could add to their bottom line.

[EvertonFC]

So you think 1 game in 13 years is acceptable?

[frostypants]

@EvertonFC I have no trouble accepting it. They're a relatively small studio and were allowed to focus on an entirely original and highly complex passion project (way harder than cranking out an FPS or something), which is a rare amount of freedom for an acquired studio in this industry. It would be unacceptable if Sony first parties as a whole only released one game, but this isn't that.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Everton,

They made Tearaway, Dreams, and ported Tearaway (Unfolded) in that time. Are u clueless or...?

[Vengeance1138]

Sony isn't Microsoft, they don't "mismanage". If MM put out 1 game in 13yrs it's because that's just how long they wanted to take and Sony gave them that freedom.

[EvertonFC]

Dreams taking 13 years is not good from a studio. Mm are fantastic but they should have had 2 or 3 games out as well as dreams in that timeframe.

[SonyStyled]

They’ve released 2 games since LBP2. Tearaway and Dreams

[ModsDoBetter]

Let’s be honest, if this was a Microsoft studio, the sentiment would be different.

13 years between games isn’t great and if this was a Microsoft studio, the majority of the comments would be jumping all over the fact it took 13 years and was now ending live support.

But the work MM do put out is typically fantastic.
Shame it’s losing support, almost picked this up again digitally last week after selling my physical copy some time ago.

[Vengeance1138]

@olMyerslo

Except this whole "13 year gap" of nothing is false and just a stat line made up by this thread. It doesn't exist. Fake news.

Dreams (2020)
Tearaway Unfolded (2015)
Tearaway (2013)
Little Big Planet 2 (2011)

Show me where the 13yr gap of nothing is, where?

[SonyStyled]

2 games. Tearaway and Dreams

[EvertonFC]

I forgot about tearaway, great gem of a game. That lessons the blow , still should have 1 or 2 more games out tbh imo.
They haven't made a bad game yet Mm tbh.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Sony mismanaged a great idea. Dreams is brilliant but marketed n managed wrong.

They made Tearaway and Dreams. Also, Unfolded. Check your facts. Smfh.

[r2oB]

Where did you get 13 years? First of all LBP2 came out in 2011, that’s 12 years ago. Second, Dreams came out in 2020 which is 9 years after LBP2. Third, they developed 2 games in between LBP2 and Dreams, Tearaway (2013) and Tearaway unfolded (2015). So it’s more like 3 very unique and creative games in 12 years (by a relatively small studio of around 50 people), not 1 game in 13 years.

It’s amazing how people just spread misinformation, and equally amazing how people just run with it. What happened to a bit of research?

[SonyStyled]

I think a lot of people forget about studios like Media Molecule (and PixelOpus), but Ive been a fan of the mainline LBP games and Mm since the E3 moment on the skateboard for LBP1

Edit: Tearaway Unfolded was also a PS4 reimagining of the Vita game Tearaway. I played the original and I’m glad that’s the way I experienced it. Unfolded came out after and expanded the original Vita game, but sacrificed the touch controls that made the vita original special.

I’ve never tried Unfolded outside a demo

[-Foxtrot]

Kind of sad

I just feel it was a big thing when it came out and then things went silent, like it was clearly supported but nothing else really came from it spotlight wise. The amount of user generate content was fantastic but I just feel it should have been bigger than it was

They could have at least ported it to the PC and released a PS5 version with some enhanced features before moving on

With Dreams though and what it could do, where else do you go next

[blackblades]

Its just support like updates, events etc ending just like all games. People will still be able to create and share like normal. It's not like some online, mobile game ending services that never let you play ever again. Most of you people didn't even bother with it for years.

[ChasterMies]

Too bad you can’t take assets from Dream and port them to other games or vice versa. Dreams has so neat tools and great tools for collaboration. At least the game isn’t disappearing. I’ll keep trying the games that folks’ make.

[Si-Fly]

I personally found Dreams overwhelming. I loved LBP1, I actually made levels in that and I think the restrictions helped me. But in Dreams it just felt like there were too many possibilities and all I ended up doing was checking out others work 🤷🏼‍♂️

[ModsDoBetter]

Agreed, playing user created content was fun but making levels was a chore and I never ended up making any as a result.

LBP was amazing.

[gold_drake]

aww rly?
i always wanted to play it but never had time.for it.

i hipe we'll get something like this for ps5

[Kyizen]

Really wanted this in VR

[Yi-Long]

This SHOULD be (/have been) an easy system-seller, but sadly it never got the marketing-push and global recognition it should have received. As other have mentioned, this probably should have been offered for free (PS+) or perhaps pre-installed on PS5 (like Astro) for it to take off.

[northpaws]

Sad, feels like it would have been a very good PSVR2 title.

I felt like they never push this game hard enough marketing wise.

[Inverno]

Seems to me they had no idea what to do with this or made a conscious decision to never really let it grow. DREAMS is a whole engine plus several other tools disguised as a game. LBP was a game with some really good tools for creation, but honestly I think they should stay away from making games like these if they don't plan to put it out there as a legitimate way of making games. I've seen reddit posts and YouTube videos of people that eventually went on to Unity and Unreal since they felt DREAMS was goin nowhere. Hugely wasted potential.

[Lightning77]

I would. Like Media Molecules new game to be a cross over with Astro Bot and Sackboy. That would be interesting.

[gangsta_red]

So much for the initial 10 year vision they had planned for this game.

As much as the idea of creating your own game sounds cool on paper, there just isn't enough time from people to actually do this, especially console players. This game I feel would have possibly found a better audience on PC. With Sony now supporting their games on PC, this should have been one of the first to be ported.

[MadLad]

I'm still really hoping for a PC release. Dreams was one of the few console exclusives I've bought day one in many years.
All the same I was almost certain it would be coming to PC. And this was before the PC push Sony is doing now.

I think there would definitely be a market for this on PC. They're pulling the plug on this way too soon.

[Zeref]

Creation games never do well. People wanna play games not make them. It takes extra steps to find creations even worth playing.

And on top of that the game is not popular enough for creators to even invest their time in it and Why would any creator invest in this game when they could build their game in Unreal or Unity or any game engine that is beginner friendly and can actually potentially make money from it.

Fortnite is a good example of how creation can work, I think because Fortnite is hugely popular and is now building their creation mode with Unreal Engine. The creation is a side of Fortnite not the main focus.

[Flewid638]

A PC port with mocap tool support would've made this a win.

[Lionsguard]

Being tied down to the PS4 was never going to work in the long run. They should have made a PC version where the community could have saved this game even long after they shut down.

[Pyrofire95]

B-but it hasn't reached it's potential yet!

[GoodGuy09]

Well...it was inevitable. They really should've considered a PC port as its the platform where a huge majority of creative people are. M&K is the best input for creating games and content and you need monster of machines. Most people just don't have the time, creativity, and patience to be making a game that has no monetization especially on console. MM should...stop it with the create, share, and play theme and just give us a fun game. Tearaway was cool. Maybe just do small indie like games.

I had a good time with Dreams but... clearly so many games were just copies of other games and really effortlessly made games lol. But there were indeed great games.... however many are unfinished and would take years for the creators'
full visions to be done.

[EmperorDalek]

I won't be supporting any new online games made by Sony after this. It had a good amount of potential as a proper game engine, they just needed a monetisation plan similar to something like Roblox to create some incentive for smaller teams to put proper effort into it. What a waste of potential.

And Sony wants to create how many live service games in the next few years? Get lost.

[YoungKingDoran]

I cant believe the mismanagement of this great software. Sony is partly to blame but i also have to blame Mm. People will argue there were updates to this game and apart from VR there was nothing subsantial, only bug fixes (which IS good). Their in-house creations like Art's Dream werent great when this should have been just one of many games they released, not just one of few. When it first released they should have had a game from all their big 1st party studios, even if they were mimi-games it would have been a great selling point. Their co-op creation mode promised years ago is still not out as far as im aware... they said you'd be able to export models for 3d printing format - non existent. No ps5 version, no pc version... its like they made the game and stopped, when they should have been masters of their own creation, constantly making assets and templates for people to use and guiding the community. I could probably keep going but unfortunately i have to conclude Mm is not Media molecule for me anymore but Mis-management

[rlow1]

Off topic, on my iPhone I have a video advertisement that keeps coming up every ten seconds. It hogs the screen and is very distracting. Anyone having the same issues?

[VariantAEC]

Yeah wondering who we complain to about these ads they degrade battery life on mobile like nothing else and might harm their overall user base on mobile which is likely a growing sector for most websites.

[rlow1]

Not only that they just keep coming up non stop

[REDDURT]

So much content lost. Games like this create an echo system that just disappears like lbp2 .

[mkis007]

Should have at least tried a pc release. More than any other game this one made sense to be on pc...on everything

[philm87]

Sounds like servers etc. are still going to be live, so not really too much of an issue.

[lucian229]

Thank goodness they are dropping this. . While I lived the idea of it.... It was a huge task to learn anything. All the tutorials, it felt like school. Then the amount of time it takes.... It isn't realistic for people who are adults and work and have a family.

What MM should have done was release their own games within dreams and let people collect assets by completing those games. But nope... Was pure creation.

Just give us a new real lbp please.