My Visit to Media Molecule in England

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 15:27:21 -0700

Talk about a sweet start to my vacation. After having such a wild ride with LittleBigPlanet since its inception, ranging from interesting content moderation with the Azure Palace to working on the Game of the Year edition, I finally had the chance to visit Media Molecule studios over in Guildford, Surrey, UK.

Considering I was to be visiting England for Amanda’s mom’s wedding, I figured I might as well ask and see if I could check out the studios if it was possible. After a couple phone calls here and there, I grabbed a couple trains from where I was staying in London and headed to Guildford.

After kinda getting lost, I managed to find my way to their studios.

And it looks like I’m in the right spot!

So after finding my way in and introducing myself to the staff, the level designers (Danny, Victor, Johnee, Christophe, and Mark) and Spaff (community manager) took me to a nearby pub where we had lunch. We chatted up a bit about the game, the backgrounds of the level designers, and other random stuff to include the cultural differences between Los Angeles vs. Guildford and how good In & Out and Fatburgers were.

Once done, we walked back to the studio where Spaff and Siobhan (studio director) took me about the office and introduced me to pretty much everyone on the staff (i.e. Mark Healy, Kareem Ettouney, Alex Evans, Martin Lynaugh, Tom_Molecule, Francis, Rex, David, Michelle, and everyone else I can’t quite remember the names atm).

While talking with everyone, you can see that they are completely passionate about their work. The camaraderie within the company is can easily be felt simply by their layout within their office space, which is probably no bigger than a typical fast food joint. No cubicles, nothing of the sort. In fact, it feels really personal versus the typical office setting. It’s amazing putting it into perspective considering the size of the company and the quality of work that comes from them.

On top of that, they’re working hard to help evolve the game by bringing in some really awesome stuff from what I saw during my time there... granted I can’t say much for obvious reasons. =P But take it from me, if they could release all that stuff tomorrow, I’d explode into a cloud of awesome because of what’s in store.

I wish I could have stayed longer, but they were truly hard at work brining us future content. Before I left, we took a couple pics at the lobby with Alex Evans and Spaff.

They also gave me a couple parting gifts to which I’m really grateful for.

A signed poster by the entire staff.

And an LBP shirt I’ve never seen before.

It was definitely an awesome experience meeting up with the creators of one of my favorite games in person after working with them on the GOTY edition. They are definitely a great group to work with and visiting them in person solidified that thought. There’s always congratulations in order for their success and here’s to much more in the future, which I’m sure will come.

Also, before I left, I gave a little something I worked on before I came over...

Would be perfect for future DLC, right?

Next time I’m back in the Queen’s country, I’ll definitely stop on by again and take them on a proper pub night out... to the dismay of my wallet, lol.

- D

daviddino.com

My Visit to Media Molecule in England