Sony’s Clearcutting: PlayStation users lose 16 years of content

Sony will not bring the servers of the popular PS4 game Little Big Planet 3 back online after an emergency shutdown. As a result, users lose a large part of the content they created themselves.

In January 2024, the online servers of the puzzle platformer Little Big Planet 3 were taken offline. At the time, a mod threatened the security of user accounts and could lead to the PSN account being banned. However, in a tweet from the developers it was said that the shutdown was only temporary. (Source: X).

Little Big Planet 3 is going offline forever

The latest entry on Sony's list of “decommissioned servers” now also includes the puzzler's online functions. (Source: Sony). There it says:

Due to ongoing technical issues that resulted in the PS4 Little Big Planet 3 servers being temporarily taken offline in January 2024, it has been decided to keep the servers offline indefinitely. All online services, including access to other players' creations for Little Big Planet 3, are no longer available.

Although offline content, like the campaign still playable However, many of the levels are designed by the players themselves no longer accessible. Only content stored locally on the console can still be used.

Something similar happened to the PS3 version of the game:

Players will lose 16 years of full content and memories

Fans were already worried about their creations in January. On Reddit, for example, Weeni-Tortelelini lamented: “Almost 16 years of user-generated content, millions of levels, some with millions of games and hearts. Absolutely iconic levels locked away forever, unable to be relived.” (Source: Reddit).

Hammer9500 agrees under the same post, saying: “I've spent over ten years making levels and uploading them since 2012. It’s devastating to see them all gone now, especially because I felt like they documented my creative journey.”

The January shutdown came without much warning and with Sony's no longer seeming to be able to bring the servers back, fans had no chance to save even parts of the user-generated levels.