LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule believes it is important to keep innovating and not to rely upon the same IP and game designs. A directors’ annual report by the company obtained by Develop, says that the SCEA first-party studio's main business risks were “largely as a result of the company’s heavy reliance on the one LittleBigPlanet brand name.”
While there have been two main entries in LittleBigPlanet (along with a PSP entry and an upcoming PS Vita incarnation), the 50 man-strong Media Molecule will not be developing a third game in the series. The company said in its financial report that “it is vital for Media Molecule to focus a high proportion of its resources on R&D to allow it to maintain its world leading position as a developer of innovative games” and that it must “remain at the forefront of technological advances, and must bring new and often risky innovations to market in products of the highest quality."
The fiscal year ending March 2011 saw the company bring in $5.3 million in profit and spend $6.32 million on R&D. These investments were being made in “leading edge physics and dynamics, rapid world creation from laser data, innovative routes to market via web based interfaces, 3D stereo-optics for advanced simulation, and use of ‘hi-def’ data capture and processing techniques.”
