Media Molecule: ‘We Still Feel Independent Under Sony’

Speaking exclusively to Play, Media Molecule creative director Mark Healey has insisted that the studio remains unchanged since being bought by Sony. Earlier this year Sony Computer Entertainment acquired Media Molecule, the UK based developer of LittleBigPlanet, cementing an exclusive relationship, which Healey praised, before announcing LittleBigPlanet 2.

“We’ve had a really good relationship with them really, which is why we decided to marry them,”Healey explained to us. “It’s very hands off where it needs to be and they let us get on. And there’s stuff that we’re not so good at that I would find really annoying they take the weight off there and do it.”

Healey also revealed that he was personally cautious about the deal and that Media Molecule thought hard before making the commitment to Sony. Ultimately though, it was a perfect fit. “The whole acquisition thing we didn’t have that worry that we might have had with a lot of other publishers,” he said. “I’ve been in the industry quite a long time really and I’ve gone through various acquisitions with other companies and seen it go not so well in terms of morale and how they integrate. But we did our research and went to speak to various Sony studios and it was all cool.”

The bottom line for Healey was that Media Molecule would carry on the way it always has regardless. “It still feels like we’re an independent company, which is the bottom line,” he insisted. “That was the idea really.”

Want to know more? Read Play’s Exclusive preview of LittleBigPlanet 2 featuring interviews with Mark Healey and Alex Evans in Issue 195, on sale 5 August. Available in stores in UK and Ireland, via the Imagine eShop or on your iPhone/iPad.