Earlier today, rumors of layoffs at Media Molecule for 15-20% of the staff were first reported on Sports Illustrated. This afternoon, the Guildford-based studio owned by Sony admitted that the layoffs are real in a message shared on Twitter (X).
Media Molecule has made significant strategic changes during the past year, including shifting our focus from Dreams to our new project.
We have had to make the difficult decision to begin the consultation process for team members within certain departments of the studio. This is a tough moment for the individuals impacted and the studio overall.
Every single role that has been put at risk is delivered by someone who has contributed something special to Media Molecule. We will make sure those impacted receive the best support we can provide during this process. We will continue to support the Dreams Community for the foreseeable future and will update on future plans at a later date.
The news follows the departure of Media Molecule co-founder Mark Healey, announced in April.
Dreams launched on February 14, 2020 for PlayStation 4 after almost a year of early access phase. An evolution of LittleBigPlanet with even greater UGC capabilities, it received extremely positive reviews from critics. Our own Kai Powell rated it 9/10 in his review:
Dreams is only in its infancy at the moment and I fully expect to see the full potential of the platform take months to achieve. However, even days after its official release, there are already a great number of Dreams that give me hope for the platform. Even multiplayer and PlayStation VR support are both in development and should arrive sooner rather than later. This is one creative platform that I hope persists for a long time and even makes its way onto next-generation consoles. If you’ve had a great idea for a game, stop dreaming how to do it and do it instead (in Dreams).
Unfortunately, Dreams never made it to PlayStation 5 or PC, despite rumors of the latter possibility, and now Media Molecule has moved away from the project to focus on its next game (with a smaller staff).
