It’s a bad time to enjoy platformers built on community level creations, as LittleBigPlanet 3 servers have shut down just a week after support for Wii U servers and Super Mario Maker were killed. But while Nintendo fans got to say goodbye to their game, the death of LittleBigPlanet came as a sudden shock.
All LittleBigPlanet servers went offline in 2021 in the midst of hacks that were bombarding players with offensive content. Later that year, LittleBigPlanet 3 was brought back online, and since served as the only way fans could access 16 years worth of community-made levels dating back to the original 2008 game. Then, in January 2024, the devs announced that LittleBigPlanet 3 was once again going offline “temporarily.”
Unfortunately, it seems that the temporary situation has now become permanent. “Due to ongoing technical issues which resulted in the LittleBigPlanet 3 servers for PS4 being taken offline temporarily in January 2024, the decision has been made to keep the servers offline indefinitely,” the devs say in a tweet. “All online services including access to other players’ creations for LittleBigPlanet 3 are no longer available.”
It’s an unceremonious end for a 16 year legacy of community content. Any such server shutdown comes as an ultimately understandable business decision, but equally, they’re all distressing blows for game preservation. The timing means I can’t help but think of the Super Mario Maker shutdown, which players had loads of advance notice for, leading to one of the coolest community efforts in recent memory.
Meanwhile, LittleBigPlanet – a more robust creation engine that predated Mario Maker by years – dies with a whimper. Community members are reporting that resource servers, the servers that actually house levels and other player-made content, are currently still online, but with the game servers offline there’s no way to access them. Still, some are holding out a faint glimmer of hope that maybe those levels will come back someday. I know I’ve got my fingers crossed for a LittleBigPlanet revival down the line, but I can’t help feeling this is truly the end for one of PlayStation’s greatest games.
There are plenty of upcoming PS5 games for you to enjoy in the near future before it all turns to despair in another decade.
