It’s been almost four years since the original LittleBigPlanet was released for the PS3 back in 2008. Since that time, the LittleBigPlanet franchise has soared in popularity among even the most hardcore of gamers and the adorable Sackboy stands as one of Sony’s marquee gaming characters. As an addicting platformer with an unprecedented amount of customization and creation tools, LittleBigPlanet can certainly be credited as one of the top software products that ensured the longevity of the PS3. Also since that time, an average of 5000 new community levels a day and 200 per hour have been submitted en route to a jaw-dropping 7 million – a milestone developer Media Molecule and LittleBigPlanet surpassed last night.
Media Molecule recently announced the impressive accomplishment via their official blog, and to go along with it, they released an incredibly in-depth and truly overwhelming infographic which can be seen below as well as in its full glory on Flickr. The info blurbs are displayed in typical LBP style – meaning they’re lighthearted, fun, and flashy, but the actual numbers represent the often daunting task and incredible workload required to develop a AAA title. Media Molecule countered that anxiety by consuming 11,400 bananas, 30, 521 slices of toast, and 56, 683 cups of tea. What’s perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the team accomplished this milestone with only 5, 963 bottles of beer. Given the context of the stress-inducing environment of the modern day video game industry, you’d think it’d be more.
Some other interesting tidbits? If you were to place all of the user-submitted levels end-to-end, they would circle the Earth six times or stretch half the distance to the Moon. Just how long would it take Sackboy to complete those 7 million levels? About 21 years. Little Sackboy would be well over the legal drinking age by then. He could celebrate with one of Media Molecule’s 5,963 beers upon completion.
The LittleBigPlanet franchise is not slowing down anytime soon, as the series currently has two upcoming projects in the works. A LittleBigPlanet is under development for the PS Vita and will utilize the handheld’s innovative control scheme including the multi-touch touchscreen and rear touchpad. LittleBigPlanet Karting for the PS3 on the other hand, will be the franchise’s first venture outside of the platforming genre and will fall into the racing category while retaining the elements of user-customization traditional to the LBP series. Gamers will be able to customize their Sackboy, racing karts, and the tracks which can be uploaded to the LBP servers for use by other players. Both games are still on track for a 2012 release.
