LittleBigPlanet’s charming blend of handcrafted aesthetics and creative gameplay have been exclusively available on Sony PlayStation consoles for as long as the property has existed – until now. A group of LBP enthusiasts is building a new LittleBigPlanet adventure for PC, and it looks as charming as ever.
LittleBigPlanet Restitched is still in the early stages of development, but Trixel Creative, the group of developers building it, has put together a tidy little trailer to show off the alpha. There’s the adorable little Sackboy, naturally, and all the template-based building action you may remember from Media Molecule’s series of games – you plunk down some overlapping shapes and they form platforms and levels crafted from everyday materials like cardboard and thread.
Trixel Creative says it’s using official documentation on LittleBigPlanet’s logic and design in order to stay true to the LittleBigPlanet experience with Restitched, and once it’s done, the idea is to have it feel as “familiar and comfortable as possible” for fans of the series. However, the group is adding brand new materials, costumes, stickers, and objects – as well as new music created by the community – to the fan game.
Here’s the trailer:
The question of course is one of legality: Is it possible to create a fan game based on the LittleBigPlanet trademark? The answer isn’t exactly ‘yes,’ but it’s not as simple as ‘no,’ either.
According to a redditor named Halxton who says they’re involved with the Restitched project, the rights to LittleBigPlanet now reside with Sumo Digital, and Trixel Creative has Sumo’s blessing to proceed with the project as long as it’s not a for-profit enterprise.
The last word does come down to Sony, Halxton admits, but they say that in a worst-case scenario in which Sony executives order them to stop using LittleBigPlanet imagery and characters, the studio can shift gears and change the game to something ‘inspired by’ LittleBigPlanet rather than a direct homage using the same characters.
If they’re allowed to go ahead as planned, though, LittleBigPlanet Restitched will feature a new story mode, the ability to create and share levels with other players, as well as an interface optimized for mouse and keyboard on PC.
There’s no release timeframe yet for LittleBigPlanet Restitched, but you can keep up to date with developments at Trixel Creative’s official site. And for more shareable player creativity, check out our list of the best Roblox games.