Since opening for business in 2006, Media Molecule has achieved a great many things. It’s racked up myriad accolades for its signature creation, LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation 3, and it’s raised an enthusiastic, enduring community around its weird game. Since 2008, more than 7 million LittleBigPlanet levels have been made by players, twenty-five of whom have gone on to become employees at the studio. The studio’s homeland gave it another honor on Wednesday, when studio co-founder and director Siobahn Reddy was named the Australian Woman of the Year.
After receiving the award at a ceremony in London, Reddy has an appropriate reaction for someone involved in the creation of one of gaming’s funniest, most light-hearted icons.
“I feel it’s given me probably a bit of a rocket up the bum in some way,” said Reddy, “I’ve had my head down for so long making things, that I’ve been bad in realizing how low the number of women are within games. In the last months I’ve started to think more about how I can encourage young women to get into games.”
Reddy and Media Molecule are working on new projects for their parent company Sony while other studios work on new LittleBigPlanet titles. Expected out sometime this year is Tearaway, Media Molecule’s first original game for PS Vita. The studio also demoed a new PS Move-based creative game at Sony’s PlayStation 4 unveiling in Feburary.
