LittleBigPlanet / Mark Healey / Dreams
Image: Push Square

One of Media Molecule's founders, Mark Healey, has announced his departure from the studio. Sharing his news on social media, he says today will be his last day at the PS Studios developer.

"So, after [17] years of co-birthing and building Media Molecule, I have decided it is time for me to fly the nest [...] today is my last day at MM," Healey writes on Twitter. He goes on to say he's "proud to have played my part and lucky to have jammed with some truly brilliant people" during his time at the studio. It's not known precisely what he has planned next, though he does suggest he'll be staying in the industry.

A statement from studio director Siobhan Reddy has emerged on Media Molecule's Twitter page:

In it, Reddy describes Healey as "a creative driving force for the studio throughout the years" and says he has "strongly influenced Media Molecule in many brilliant ways". She thanks him "for everything", and promises the team will "always stay a bit weird".

Healey was one of four Lionhead Studios employees who broke off and formed Media Molecule, the others being David Smith, Alex Evans, and Kareem Ettouney — of whom the latter two have also left the studio in recent times.

This news comes shortly after the announcement that Media Molecule will soon be putting an end to its live service support for Dreams. Following 1st September, there will be no more updates to the game, but it will remain online to allow the community to continue playing, creating, and sharing. Planned updates between now and then include a made-in-Dreams game called Tren, a final patch to Create mode, and a big server migration.

[source twitter.com, via twitter.com]