Sony to Continue Investing in Dreams Developer Media Molecule

That interview with Siobhan Reddy was top notch.

Be interested to know if there will be (I'm pretty sure there will be) a PS5 version, and what more the extra horsepower will bring to an already outstanding piece of software.

Ps5 version coming this year whilst the ps4 version goes on playstation plus

Very happy to hear this. I love Media Molecule and Dreams. I was worried for them considering the game didn't sell big numbers but happy to see Sony showing faith in the team.

Great to hear. Good place to invest some cash.

Just dumb to support this studio but shut down Studio Japan, illogical business moves

I'm not really crazy about Dreams, but I'm happy Sony will continue to support them. I hope they make something like LBP or Tearaway again some day.

@Subsided I second that. Media Molecule would have made more sense to shut down and spread their developers to the others studios to help with their engines and help with world and level building. Dreams sold horribly too so I don't get the favoritism 😐

I love this studio, and while Dreams isn't my cup of tea, I'm happy to see the studio will remain well supported. I'd also like to see them make a game again like they used to.

And they are downsizing the Japan studio
And laying off the Japanese devs
Wich they are much more creaitve then any western dev

F@ck you Jim lying

I love Dreams, glad to hear it's being supported.

I'd like to see them make a AAA game instead of making LBP/Dreams style games.

I hope the new PSVR controllers will work with it. Using the move felt awkward and clunky to me and I did better with the controller. Having the ability to control things in more detail would be great!

Dreams is really for the creative types, which is why it will never be as popular as their other exclusives. As someone who lacks any creativity, I don't see the point in buying this just to actually play levels and I am pretty sure a lot of people think like this.

This is why they reported at some point that there were a lot of creations, but almost no one to actually play them.

I have conflicted feelings towards Media Molecule.

On one hand, their games all get high scores and accolades and the studio is often lauded by industry peers (including Hideo Kojima) as having an incredible and whimsical creative culture, so it's good to see Sony continue to nurture it.

However all their games have focused all too much on creation and sharing rather than playing and consequently their games have suffered from poorly implemented gameplay and bland design, leaving their community to provide the interesting content.

I know Sony and others see them as a prestigious studio but aside from the first LBP (mainly due to hype) their games have not sold well and have little appeal to the wide gaming audience.

I feel a studio as talented as MM is being wasted serving a niche community when all this time they could have been making traditional high quality AAA gameplay-centric games alongside their sister studios at Sony.

@AdamNovice I dunno man that's pretty hard to believe

Dreams is amazing. I'm as complete dope and managed to make this;

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3keLwrsy8FA&t=184s

@Juanalf In comparsion to Japan Studio MM always was in the green (their UK financial Reports are open to see)

@IonMagus in comparison to Japan studio, mm was never tasked with being a profitless content mill to support other studios deadlines.

@truerbluer I kind of agree with the first half but not the second half. I don't think studios should be homogenized to producing wide appeal mass market blockbusters only. Trying to do that is what I see asa massive weakness in this new era of Sony. It might be the most profitable route for investors, bit that doesn't build the strongest platform. It's short term profit thinking. Catering to many niches was a former Sony strength. One Sony has mostly abandoned except for MM.

Otoh, I'm not sure MMs focus only on creator titles and often compromising the core gameplay in favor of demonstrating creator tools is a good example of a quality studio. However as an idea incubator they're very special. It's telling that the best lbp games are the ones they didn't make. Though I'd say the same about Naughty Dog and Crash as well.

Can't wait for that third person action story focused game. That's the only thing that moves consoles.
I just hope because it's them, it has a twist and it's fresh.

People comparing Japan studio to Media Molecule are way off base.

Japan Studio was a 500 person studio based in Tokyo, one of the most expensive cities in the world.

MM is a 50 person studio based in Guildford, not one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Sales of the original LBP were 3.5m, which generated more revenue than the studio costs to run every year since its creation.

Sony needs to invest in them otherwise Microsoft will gobble them up in a heart beat! lol

Dreams kind of failed though, it didn't sells that much and isn't attracting many players. I wish MM back to making normal games like LBP and Tearaway and not making games engine.

Man I can't imagine if MM make astro playroom-like tearaway games, it will be so cool, using all the dualsense haptics and sensors

What an oddly written article of regurgitated PR fluff. And yes, it doesn't take a business degree to see how Sony and media molecule would be better served, if dreams was built into the PlayStation's UI, rather than having dreams filling up the bargain bins of this world for 15-20€. Japan Studio Asobi (Astro Not/Playroom) has done fantastic work I would actually pay for, since their creativity and polish is practically on par with that of core Nintendo Devs.

@wiiware absolutely agree. Tearaway has been my favourite MM game so far. I really hope dreams would succeed, but from reading this article I have my doubts.

@NEStalgia Nah they just were not mismanaged for 10+ years and didnt have 30+ small projects going on at once while nothing was getting finished. MM only released 2,5 Games on PS4 and still was profitable every year, that says a lot.

Very talented people working at Media Molecule but the games are not my cup tea

@tameshiyaku Def wouldnt want it built into the UI taking up more precious hard drive space , let it go free to play

Wish they'd port Little Big Planet's 1 & 2 over to ps4/ps5! I'd happily get them!

How long till Dreams goes on Plus?

@Classic_console "And laying off the Japanese devs
Wich they are much more creaitve then any western dev"

in your opinion.

@Dekutheevilclown you make way too much sense for this place.

Give it six Months and sony will shut down Dreams and Media Molecule.....

I wish MM would just make a normal game now It's cool all the Create stuff they done but only 1% out of 100% of gamers will use it. COME! ON! MM! Do a LBP style British stlye sense of humour game that was soooooo LOVELY in LBP1 & 2

@tameshiyaku I think dreams more suited to pc rather than console, minecraft, roblox, and others "make your own fun" games usually sells better on pc. Players can make little big planet levels and share it with others on ps3/4 but the reason the game sells great (on ps3) is because the single player is actually good. I bought dreams when it's still in early access, but in the end I rather play my ps4 backlog rather than playing games in dreams.

@Machines yeah, it def should be an optional install. But then it should be well integrated with a proper creator showcase/platform, charts, competitions, youtube/twitch integration, game cards etc. to make it feel like something big for sony, rather than a niche community. That might do more for MM than just having sony throw extra money to the studio. Just don't understand the statement at the beginning of this article, as if they've gotten it all figured out.

I don't understand why some feel the need to give such harsh criticism of something purely because it's not for them. I'm hopeless when it comes to creative software, so not a purchase for me at £35 but I would pick it up for £20 in a sale. Just to support the initiative. We need more creativity and less of the mindless, throwaway crud that's endlessly churned out.

@themcnoisy well done. Nice build.

@Subsided Definitely sucks about Japan Studio, but it's a good thing that MM isn't getting sacked as well.

@IonMagus But would they have been profitable, or completed those 2.5 games, if they were assigned to spend those years cranking out assets for Uncharted, GoW, etc. like a third party contractor? Japan Studio may have been mismanaged, but they were also abused from on high like an unwanted stepchild. It's hard to get projects done or turn a profit if you're spending most of your time supporting someone else's project.

@NEStalgia Thats some nice Fanfic you have going on. The Support they put into Bloodborne, Demon Souls and more all came from their external Studio Division which is still going, not the internal Teams. And at least those Projects actually sold (besides Astro Bot VR) lol. Japan Studio was a mess since 2011 when Sony send that one American Dude into it to try to clean up there but seems like he failed

@UltimateOtaku91 nah knowing sony they will put the ps5 version on psplus.
Like they did with multiple games now.
Like bugsnax, oddworld in april.
Ps4 version will not be free otherwise the few dreams customers might feel like they got screwed.

Need mouse,keyboard support.

I wonder how much talent they got from dreams alone.
It's a relative cheap talent factory for budding programmers and game ideas.
Makes sense to invest in it.

@Juanalf @Subsided I think the difference is in operating cost. MM is a much much smaller team whereas Japan Studio was multiple teams.

@LiamCroft

THIS playstation fan does have a business degree, and doesn't see anything fundamentally unsound about sony buying MM and adding dreams to pre-loaded software on new consoles. It's funny that you'd write an article disagreeing with some of your users posts, and then try to tie that to an imaginary level of education. I gave you the benefit of the doubt for a long time, but sometimes you can really come across as an arrogant buffoon.

I just hope in the future they don't get media molecule to make a sack boy 2 as I think sumo digital did a great job in the direction they took the franchise and I would love for them to make a sequel.