LittleBigPlanet Creator Reportedly Developing Animal Crossing-Style Game for 2027 Launch

Media Molecule, the studio behind LittleBigPlanet, is said to be working on a new social simulation game reminiscent of Animal Crossing, with a potential release next year.

A fresh report from MP1st suggests that Media Molecule has been quietly developing its next title for a while. The project is described as being in the same vein as Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, featuring the social-simulation mechanics those games are famous for. While specific gameplay details remain scarce, the report indicates that the team aims to announce and launch the game in 2027, assuming everything goes as planned.

Earlier this year, a Media Molecule employee let slip that their next game would be open-world, sparking widespread speculation about what the studio was crafting. The developer's most recent release, Dreams, launched in early 2020 but struggled to gain traction despite its ambitious nature. This news also arrives at a time when PlayStation is being especially cautious about where it allocates its resources.

Media Molecule's future could depend heavily on the success of this next project, given Dreams' failure to take off. Hideo Kojima's upcoming game, Physint, was nearly scrapped by PlayStation until Xbox stepped in to save it. Additionally, PlayStation shut down Bluepoint earlier this year and made significant layoffs at Bungie following the underwhelming performance of Marathon. Fans are hopeful that Media Molecule can deliver something that captures the magic of Animal Crossing, but for PlayStation.