text: Phil Harrison announced LittleBigPlanet at the Game Developers Conference on 7 March 2007, in San Francisco; only upon arrival did Healey and others realise they were a part of his keynote with Healey. He noted that, "Sony were very, very much behind the game, much more than we had previously thought." The keynote included a demonstration by Healey, Evans, Harrison, and Peter Smith (senior producer on LittleBigPlanet) showing core gameplay elements throughout a game level and explaining players could create their own levels with tools provided to them within the game. LittleBigPlanet was one game that Sony considered fit their "Game 3.0" concept of user-generated content. Harrison originally suggested having LittleBigPlanet a free-to-play with downloadable content (DLC) along with a mechanism to monetise user-generated content to reward the best creators for their innovation. After viewing GDC 2007, Kenneth Young joined the studio in 2007 as their audio and music lead after being infatuated by LittleBigPlanet, Healey, and Evans. Some time before its release, the development of a sequel began. In July, Media Molecule had 28 employees. LittleBigPlanet was released between 27 October 2008 and 5 November across different regions. LittleBigPlanet was critically acclaimed by critics, winning over 90 awards including the Award for Artistic Achievement at the 5th British Academy Video Games Awards.
  LittleBigPlanet 2, new games, and Sony acquisition (since 2009)