Media Molecule is reportedly laying off 15-20% of staff (around 20 of its 135 employees.)

[Gamernyc78]

Dreams and LittleBigPlanet studio Media Molecule is reportedly laying off 15-20% of staff | VGC

The studio ended support for Dreams in September…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Sports Illustrated‘s GLHF says the studio held an internal meeting today and told staff that it planned to lay off around 20 of its 135 employees.

The news comes a month after Media Molecule ended support for Dreams, which was released in early access in April 2019 before officially launching in February 2020.

In an article posted on the game’s official website earlier this year, the studio explained it had “made the difficult decision to discontinue live support for Dreams after September 1, 2023 to shift our focus to an exciting new project”.

Players are still able to play, create and share content on the game, but it will be receiving no further updates. Players also now have a 5GB storage limit for any new creations.

The Media Molecule layoffs are the latest in a long string of mass layoffs taking place across the games industry this year.

Earlier this month it was reported that Telltale Games laid off a number of employees, and that Team17 is planning “significant” job losses as part of a company restructure. Last month it was announced that Epic Games would be laying off 16% of its staff, consisting of “around 830 employees”.

 

[Darth Vader]

It's a bloodbath at Sony. The legacy of Jim Ryan is terrible.

 

[gokuss4]

Damm dreams flopped hard and Sony bleeding talents

 

[historia]

It's a bloodbath at Sony. The legacy of Jim Ryan is terrible.

You joking right?

Media Molecule has kinda being low for a really long time now. Where is PS5 native

I am surprised they haven't got the Evo treatment yet.

 

[Gamernyc78]

This I expected much sooner and was surprised it didnt happen earlier considering everything after LBP wasn't successful such as Tearaway.

 

[historia]

Honestly Sony probably would have to open the pockets and buy some small studios since their output has not been great

 

[Darth Vader]

You joking right?

Media Molecule has kinda being low for a really long time now. Where is PS5 native

I am surprised they haven't got the Evo treatment yet.

You do know those decisions come from the top, right? So yet again, Jim Ryan is to blame. I love that people somehow love to blame the studio when they only follow orders, they are not independent.

 

[Jim Ryan]

It's a bloodbath at Sony. The legacy of Jim Ryan is terrible.

Sorry guys, I didn't know what I was doing tbh.

My grandchildren told me Fortnite was cool and made lots of money, so I tried to make some of them.

I was asleep the rest of the time.

 

[Box]

How much money and time was wasted on Dreams? It was marketed terribly as well, it could have been the Roblox of playstation but most peiple didnt even know what it was about.

 

[Gamernyc78]

How much money and time was wasted on Dreams? It was marketed terribly as well, it could have been the Roblox of playstation but most peiple didnt even know what it was about.

Also could have been a fucking PSVR2 banger and one of the best things for any VR if given support!

 

[Old Gamer]

It was marketed terribly as well, it could have been the Roblox of playstation but most peiple didnt even know what it was about.

And who is to blame for the bad marketing?
Who was VP of marketing, became CEO and then proceeded to ahut down most marketing (with massive layoffs to boot)?

 

[Vertigo]

Not a fan of them at all. Only sympathize with the layoffs but not really. I would’ve shuttered them long time ago. Huge waste

 

[Darth Vader]

And who is to blame for the bad marketing?
Who was VP of marketing, became CEO and then proceeded to ahut down most marketing (with massive layoffs to boot)?

I'm starting to realise there's no point in pointing this out to some people. Jim could say himself "I willingly sabotaged Playstation and was fired from my job" and people would still find a way to defend him.

And I'm not saying he willingly sabotaged anything, that's just dumb. But that he was fired, or at the very least encouraged to leave? Absolutely, I will stand by that.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

We love to Jimbotain you!

 

[historia]

We love to Jimbotain you!

eh I am trying to be fair here.

I do hate Jimbo though, but blaming everything on him is kinda dumb.

 

[Darth Vader]

eh I am trying to be fair here.

I do hate Jimbo though, but blaming everything on him is kinda dumb.

He's the CEO. He's the one ordering the layoffs. He's the one that destroyed the marketing team. He's the one that has most studios working on live-service shit.

It's his fault, no matter how you spin it.

 

[flaccidsnake]

They'd still have a job if MM ported Dreams to Steam.

 

[historia]

He's the CEO. He's the one ordering the layoffs. He's the one that destroyed the marketing team. He's the one that has most studios working on live-service shit.

It's his fault, no matter how you spin it.

@Yurinka

I gonna make you deal with him, make sure you know what a real spinner look like

 

[Darth Vader]

@Yurinka

I gonna make you deal with him, make sure you know what a real spinner look like

Amazing that you tag the biggest jim ryan dickrider in the forum

 

[Old Gamer]

And I'm not saying he willingly sabotaged anything, that's just dumb. But that he was fired, or at the very least encouraged to leave? Absolutely, I will stand by that.

We'll see if he's really retired or is joining another company in the coming couple of years...