Sony Announces Delisting of LittleBigPlanet 3 and All DLC for End of October

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Key Takeaways

  • Sony will remove LittleBigPlanet 3 and all DLC from the PlayStation Store on October 31, 2024.
  • Players can still access the game if purchased before the delisting, but online features will be unavailable.
  • The decision follows the permanent shutdown of the game's servers due to ongoing technical issues.

Sony has announced that LittleBigPlanet 3, along with all DLC for the series, will be removed from the PlayStation Store on October 31.

The news, shared via the official LittleBigPlanet Twitter account on October 8, marks the end of digital availability for the beloved platformer, which first launched in 2014.

Impact of Server Shutdown

LittleBigPlanet 3, developed by Sumo Digital and released for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, is well-known for its expansive user-generated content. Players could design and share their own levels, with the game supporting all previous content from the earlier LittleBigPlanet titles.

However, the game’s servers were taken offline in early 2024, preventing access to community-created content, which had been a central feature of the series.

While the game and its DLC will no longer be available for purchase after the delisting, Sony clarified that players who already own the digital version or buy it before October 31 will still be able to re-download and play it.

However, without online server support, the gameplay will be limited to offline features and locally created content.

The delisting comes on the heels of a series of technical issues that plagued the LittleBigPlanet servers, leading to their permanent shutdown earlier this year.

Broader Implications for Game Preservation

Despite efforts to revive the service after repeated issues, including DDOS attacks and exploits, Sony ultimately decided to take the servers offline indefinitely. This effectively erased thousands of community-made levels, a significant loss for both fans and video game preservation efforts.

Although LittleBigPlanet 3 is being removed, the character Sackboy lives on in other games, including the well-received spin-off Sackboy: A Big Adventure. For now, fans of the original series have just a few weeks left to secure digital copies before they leave the store permanently.

More generally, the delisting of LittleBigPlanet 3 highlights a broader issue in the gaming industry regarding game preservation, as more studios pull older titles from digital storefronts and deactivate servers.

Without access to these games, fans often turn to emulation to preserve gaming history. However, this approach faces significant legal challenges, as seen when the Ryujinx emulator—a popular tool for playing Nintendo Switch games on PC—was forced to shut down last week under legal pressure from Nintendo.

In contrast, other developments suggest some softening of these restrictions. Apple’s April approval of the Delta emulator for Nintendo games marks a shift in policy, signaling a potential future where emulation could play a more recognized role in keeping older games accessible.

All in all, the industry as a whole continues to grapple with balancing intellectual property rights and preserving digital content for future generations.