As LittleBigPlanet looms, Sony is asking gamers whether it should reconsider its plan to scrap everything created during the beta test phase.
“With the LittleBigPlanet beta coming to a close on October 12th at 23:59 GMT, we’ll be getting everything ready for the launch of the game,” the company said in an announcement posted on the PlayStation Community Forums. “As many of you are doubtless aware, at present we are not planning to make shared creations from the beta test available in the full version of the game, however we’re aware that a lot of time and effort has been put into what you’ve created so far.”
“With this in mind we’re going to give you the choice!” the message says. “Whether you took part in the LittleBigPlanet beta test or not your opinion counts – would you rather that created levels and items from the beta test were available when the game launches, or would you rather we removed everything and the shared side of the game started from scratch? Vote before Monday October 13th, and we’ll go with whichever option receives more votes!”
Sony’s change of heart may have been inspired at least in part by levels like this, which vividly demonstrates both the power and flexibility of the game’s toolset as well as the creativity and ingenuity of LBP players. Not everything created during the beta period can be saved; Sony said that only levels that have been uploaded already are eligible, while “save game data, offline creations or progress cannot be transferred into the full game.” Unsurprisingly, voting is so far skewed heavily in favor of keeping the material created in the beta; while only 562 ballots have been cast at the time of writing, 82 percent want the beta creations kept. Cast your vote here!
Update: According to a report by 1Up, Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans said at the Tokyo Game Show that the decision has already been made – the beta stuff is staying.
