The developer behind the hit PlayStation 3 exclusive has said that it regretfully must delay LittleBigPlanet 2 until January 2011 in order to ensure that the game is polished for such an “ambitious” project.
"LittleBigPlanet 2 is a crazy dream, a dream to allow players to make whatever kind of game they want, but also to play though a great adventure of drama and excitement, power-ups, and cinematics," says the studio. "But like all of the most ambitious ideas, it can be a considerable challenge to turn these dreams into fun games."
"We’ve all been working like powered-up space ninjas and we’re almost there, but because we love what we’ve made, and we love our little sack-friends, and most of all we love all our fans out there, we couldn’t let you all get together until we knew we were giving you the best experience imaginable."
The original release date had the game penciled in for November 16 in the U.S., but the decision to delay was a “hard decision” and it has “disappointed” the studio greatly.
The delay comes as the studio recognizes that it has a major challenge ahead of itself, trying to top the 4.5 million selling LittleBigPlanet. The game was such a success that Sony eventually acquired the company.
4.5 million sold copies has translated into over 2.3 million levels developed for the game, and Media Molecule is confident that the standard set for LittleBigPlanet, even with the long lifecycle, will be topped by the sequel.
"We are a tight-knit team and we take enormous pride in our work, so to raise the bar we’ve set with the original LittleBigPlanet, a game that has been so embraced by all, we’ve agreed to allow ourselves a bit more time to deliver the experience that our great fans and community deserve," said the studio. "We are truly sorry, but hope you understand that we have to build the best possible game, as it is the foundation of our community."
The studio is working diligently to “find a way to give more of you a taste of LBP2 prior to launch.” Though no plans of a public beta have been announced, perhaps this indicates that something larger than the original planned beta is coming.
