Can Sony just release a Little Big Planet remake for PS5?

A LittleBigPlanet remake for PS5 with offline levels and a free-to-play simple level creation selection would be a perfect end for LittleBigPlanet 3.

Opinion by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Published 09 Oct 2024

LittleBigPlanet remake for PS5 — how about it Sony? A new set of LittleBigPlanet 3 trophies after it was taken offline this week would be welcome and finally give some great PS4 titles and best PS3 games a safe space to live!

Kes' Take —

LittleBigPlanet needs an offline home on PS5 after delisting

The LittleBigPlanet 3 delisting wasn't unexpected with all three mainline entries suffering from server issues in recent years. The trophies in all three had been discontinued for a while. Despite still having a strong community of level builders and players, the vital importance of the LittleBigPlanet IP during the PS3 era has waned into a whisper of nostalgia.

It's a shame to see Sackboy's original trilogy be ripped from this cruel world. Though Sackboy A Big Adventure is certainly an awesome linear continuation and one of the most underrated PS5 platformer games, there was something about those 'play, build, create' titles that had the vibrancy that could only be achieved by letting players make weird and wonderful things and upload them for everyone to laugh at.

This has me thinking — can't we revive the series in a final live-service LittleBigPlanet remake? Nintendo Switch has Super Mario Maker to keep players making levels endlessly and it has had great success. I don't see why Sony couldn't do the same with Sackboy and LittleBigPlanet.

Let's keep the level creator, the Sackboy customization, and all the assets already made for the original trilogy and the PS Vita title. Give them a bit of a PS5 makeover so it all looks clean and sexy. Then, create a Community Level sharer that is the free-to-play portion of the game where anyone can pop on to play created levels with friends for no cost.

I'd love to see the single-player portions of the games remade and collected in one place. Some of those levels were super creative and a great way to get into the deep world of player customization that developer Media Molecule constantly incentivized. Plus, with an offline set of trophies that couldn't be discontinued with a server shutdown, a remake feels like a great way to preserve the series.

With endless remasters of games from Sony that just don't need it — looking at you, Until Dawn and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered — I think a PS5 remake of LittleBigPlanet would at least feel like useful game preservation. It would be the perfect way to make these platformers accessible forever and I'm pretty sure a lot of fans would be willing to shell out for it.

As a bonus, unlike Sony's portfolio of failed live-service approaches, I think portioning out some of LittleBigPlanet as a free-to-play game makes a ton of sense. LittleBigPlanet needs a community, so deliver the level creator and the community hub for free and you get one — job's a good 'un. I don't think this approach would taint the legacy of the franchise, and Sony could easily support their burlap creation via costumes and customization packs.

In the face of the LittleBigPlanet 3 server shutdown, a PS5 remake and reimagining of the games like this just feels sensible — right? Come on Media Molecule, I'm sure you feel the same way. Get LittleBigPlanet out there as an endless platform of creation and players will flock to it. I miss those shark attack levels!

Just don't give us more unobtainable platinum trophies, Sony. What do you think of the idea? Do you like the idea of a segmented remake? Let me know in the comments below, TrueTrophies sack-people!

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor-in-Chief Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and Sony news. He writes about PS5 games like The Witcher IV, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Kingdom Come Deliverance II using experience from years of PlayStation gaming. He also covers PS Plus news and some of the best PS5 games — Uncharted, God of War, and The Last of Us — before an evening swim.