LittleBigPlanet 3 servers on PlayStation 4 will remain offline “indefinitely” after issues with the service earlier this year, Sony has confirmed.
The company updated fans with the bad news on Update on their website (via Deleted games), explaining that the January server shutdown will now be in effect for the foreseeable future. It's a decision that means millions of user-created levels will no longer be accessible to new players. Sony cites “ongoing technical issues” as the reason it chose to discontinue support.
Creation content stored on players' devices can still be accessed locally, with users also still free to create and play content while disconnected from the servers. PlayStation also directs LittleBigPlanet fans to offline features if they wish to continue playing in some capacity.
As players eventually flock to new experiences, games have been known to lose touch with some online features in the years following their releases. The lack of server access to LittleBigPlanet games is a particularly big blow, as they are known for their endless ocean of player-generated content like levels and costumes. LittleBigPlanet 3 even allowed players to enjoy user-created levels from the previous two entries.
PlayStation 3 players lost access to this content when Sony has moved to shut down PS3 servers for LittleBigPlanet 1, 2, and 3 in 2021, and now the PS4 version of the third game suffers the same fate. With the servers shut down indefinitely, it means there's no official way to see player-created content since the original LittleBigPlanet launched in 2008. LittleBigPlanet 3 launched for PS3 and PS4 in 2014.
There's no telling exactly how much user-generated content has been pumped into the game since its release, but in February 2017, more than seven years ago, Sony boasted The game includes more than 10 million levels. It is unclear exactly how many are missing today.
Fortunately, LittleBigPlanet 3 is completely unplayable without its servers. Although the now-missing content library was the premiere, players can still download and enjoy the story mode, which, in Our reviewWe estimate to provide about seven to eight hours of fun. We gave Sumo Digital's Sony game a 6.8 rating upon release, calling it “a beautifully designed game with a fantastic creation toolkit, and LittleBigPlanet 3 was let down by unimaginable co-op and bugs.”
Michael Cribb is an independent IGN contributor. He began writing for the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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