LBP: 1.5m new users since PSN outage

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 20 July, 2011

"Community is not stagnant," says MM.

LittleBigPlanet has seen 1.5 million new users since the PlayStation Network outage of April, developer Media Molecule has announced.

"I like that stat because it's growing," Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans told an audience this morning during the UK studio's Develop keynote.

"LittleBigPlanet is not a stagnant community. There's multiple levels published every second. You can no longer keep up with the amount of content."

LBP's staying power is the result of better levels, Evans said.

"One of the things we noticed about LBP2 – difficult second album and everything – one of the subtle points is the games you get in LBP2 are more varied and they're actually more fun.

"LBP1 there was an amazement to it, and it was cool there was this user-generated content. But LBP2, it's subtle, but there's actually better quality games on there.

"As the result the community has published the first million LBP2 levels twice as quickly as they did with LBP."

There have been nearly two billion plays of levels. A whopping 4.7 million levels have been published. Former Sony president of worldwide studios Phil Harrison, who signed LBP in 2006 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive, said LBP exceeded all expectations.

"When we were planning the game we thought if we'd sold a million units and one per cent of the users made a level, that would be an additional ten thousand levels," Harrison said. "That sounds pretty impressive. That's at a 1:99 ratio. 99 per cent of people would just be players, and one per cent would be creators."

Now, "basically everyone publishes a level," Evans said.

All this gives PlayStation 3 owners a reason to go online, said Evans.

"One of the things I really love is it gives you a reason to go online. A lot of people use their console and they're a bit afraid of the stigma of headshot. Multiplayer can be a bit terrifying.

"The thing about LBP is it coaxes you in. You don't know you're online. So it's this real reason to go into the world of PlayStation 3 online and PlayStation Network."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • menage #1 10 months ago

    I know there's been a lot of greta games already, but up until now LBP2 is still my GOTY so far (expect Skyrim to take it though)

    The sheer amount of cool UGC is stagering and way better than I expected. I'll keep on playing this for months to come just to see what's new.

  • theguyfromspark #2 10 months ago

    Wasn't LBP given away for free after the outage? That would explain the rise in users more than the quality of the game. Though I do think it's a great game.

  • jetsetwillie #3 10 months ago

    they will most likely do what i did. spend a few week downloading users content. realise that 99% is not worth playing and never use it again. i did that with both 1 and 2.

  • coolbritannia #4 10 months ago

    Thank the PSN freebies and the 2nd hand market that your industry wants to kill.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #5 10 months ago

    *buys littlebigplanet 2*

    (been meaning to get it for a long time)

  • Subdominator #6 10 months ago

    Oh really, you give away LBP for free because of the outage and you have nothing better to do than gloat over how the PSN outage lead to 1.5 million new users? Really? I wonder who pays for the server capacity and traffic needed for the new users, because it's obviously not those users.

  • iCubPro #7 10 months ago

    Quick correction to one quote from the article...

    "Now, "basically everyone publishes a level," Evans said."

    Should read as follows:

    "Now, "basically everyone publishes a level," Evans said. "to get the trophy for publishing a level.""

  • Paulie_P #8 10 months ago

    I had Little Big Planet a few years ago and I didn't think much of it but I downloaded it after the PSN outage and having a lot of fun playing it with my 4 year old daughter. So much so that I'm going to buy the sequel.
    Edited by Paulie_P at 20/07/11 @ 12:23

  • M_of_the_sys #9 10 months ago

    LBP has a great online community.

    That is all.

  • coolbritannia #10 10 months ago

    Negged because....we all hate 2nd hand games?

    Or because the SDF retards spotted my name...

  • kosigan #11 10 months ago

    "There's multiple levels" - There are multiple levels. Come on...

  • Brev2034 #12 10 months ago

    You would think there would be more gamers on lbp when it was the only decent game given away after the psn outage

  • alcides #13 10 months ago

    coolbritania, all you said was true - I think - but it lacked in positivity and cheerfulness. Add some of those to your next comment and you'll show them wether they're taking abuse at you for a reason or not.

  • alcides #14 10 months ago

    @Brev2034

    Did you just slight holy WipEout in my presence, sir? *glove slap*

  • mrblonde #15 10 months ago

    I think LBP has been a failure for SONY, as it was once touted as "the next Mario" and sackboy a "playstation mascot" .
    In fact both titles sales have been poor and only picked up, after massive price drops within only a few months of release.
    What once once going to be a household name has been reduced to a niche title with amazing but over complicated creation tools and poor SP platforming.
    MODNATION RACERS was another exclusive effort that maybe put the final nail in the ps3"s " create" share" hopes and with it Sony's search for a true" PS3 brand recognition title "this gen.

  • menage #16 10 months ago

    Failure? Disagree!

  • PuppyFiddler #17 10 months ago

    LBP1 levels being REPUBLISHED in LBP2 is adding to the sea of shit.

  • alcides #18 10 months ago

    @mrblonde

    It might not be a huge hit, but it's certainly a long seller. The money is being made on DLC anyway. I don't see why this is a problem that SONY sells their games at a bargain, besides. As for Modnation Racer, I guess people have no clue what a truly amazing game that is.

    I'm not merely talking about the play create share feature, but the racing game itself. It's a great game with satisfying speed sensations. LBP2's complicated create mode is the price you pay for an amateurish yet truly deep developing toolset.

    And, say that again after Infamous 2 has had time to sell as a platinum title. It's often forgotten that this game also offers user created content.