With gaming in 2024, we’re increasingly being reminded — as gamers — that big studios only care for a limited amount of time how much we play their games. And, yes, they seem to care even less if we spend our precious time in life creating stuff with their games on their servers.
Just to be clear, we’re talking about Sony, and their game LittleBigPlanet 3, that had an option for gamers to create and share levels within the game. Nintendo had a level designer for their WiiU game Super Mario Maker, that also was shut down recently, so Sony doesn’t stand alone for being this carefree with nuking customer creations.
Let’s not forget Ubisoft shutting down servers recently, too.
We can name more names in this article, but we don’t need to: it’s pervasive in the industry. A real problem. Games are being made with an expiration date. Fortunately, games aren’t as time-limited as dairy products, but the lifespan of servers associated with games, even really popular ones, is limited. It might be as few as a couple years or last longer like Sony did with LIttleBigPlanet 3.
Sony has indefinitely decommissioned the PlayStation 4 servers for puzzle platformer LittleBigPlanet 3, the company announced in an update to one of its supported pages. The permanent shutdown comes just months after the servers were temporarily taken offline due to ongoing issues. Fans now fear potentially hundreds of thousands of player creations not saved locally will be lost for good.
Sony Shuts Down LittleBigPlanet 3 Servers, Nuking Fan Creations (kotaku.com)
To be clear, Sony is letting you store user created levels locally and play them on your PS4, but you will no longer be able to share them with anybody else. Why not?! Shouldn’t this be another part of their expensive ongoing PS+ subscription? Why not continue to allow these to be shared with other LIttleBigPlanet gamers?
Is the answer as simple as : because they don’t want to?
Here’s something Sony does seem interested in: getting back into the streaming movies and TV shows game, with a rumored interest in a bid to buy Paramount+:
The report adds that, if a bid and subsequent acquisition goes through, Sony would likely absorb Paramount’s operations and brand it as a label of its own media empire. In addition to Paramount Pictures, the Paramount umbrella includes networks like Nickelodeon, Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central and – perhaps most notably – CBS, as well as Paramount+. In that, Paramount boasts IP like Spongebob Squarepants, Top Gun, Yellowstone, and the Sonic the Hedgehog films.
Sony Reportedly in Talks to Join a Bid to Buy Paramount – IGN
Sony has tried to do movies and TV on Playstation mutliple times through the history of their consoles, and every time has ended (badly). I can see why they want to keep a footing in this game, because they make movies, but the streaming movie/TV biz is not as prosperous place as it once was, and lest we forget not long ago Sony killing access to movies & TV shows “owned” purchases, see: OPINION: Sony reminds us that the illusion of “owning” Digital Movies and TV Series are lessons in Hollywood Thievery
If you smell something emanating while reading this text, you know what it is.
Let’s get back to gaming in 2024 and all these servers being shut down. Maybe it’s wise financially, but it’s bad for a gaming company’s reputation. Real bad. It reminds us gamers that we should spend less, not more, time with your games involving any sort of server component, because if we do, if we love what you’re doing, maybe someday it’s going to come to an ending.
Games didn’t used to be like this. Remember when you bought games on physical media or played an arcade game and the only way it was off is if the power was unplugged or the game failed in some other way. As long as we had/have a working physical copy, we can play the game for a long, long time. Too many games aren’t like that any more in 2024 and it’s a sad, sad day for gaming.
Here’s a radical thought: let’s go backwards in time. Let’s get back to simpler games without a reliance on live services and/or if there is a reliance, allow open server creation by gamers/fans. This way things like leaderboards and such can live beyond the company. Let’s make gamers important again, you know, like we once were.
What do you think, friendly gamers?
Hi Todd!
I never goi into Little Big Planet 3. Have you put alot of hours in it? Is it fun online game? I don’t like to get into console online games anymore but the servers will all go away eventually. Do you have this same feeling about it?
Amen!
I’m not too bothered that games servers go away, but the battle to own what we fund have never been more real and more painfully obvious by reminding us via the community-games we play, often on their server (cause who can afford servers besides via these types of incorporations). We play games quite too often just to forget about the rat-race, and yet the game goes away, server 404, and there is the reminder. Is this just another symptom of a force-obsolescence society, where capital is done with it, even if you are not?! Such a the logic of the dollar beats out the logic of need and desire, us knowing that the light-bulb could have lasted almost forever, just like these games.