Sony Removes LBP Levels “The Azure Palace” and “World of Colour” for No Known Reason

Sun, Nov 16, 2008

Since its launch, LittleBigPlanet has seen quite a bit of back-and-forth fighting between Sony and LBP creators. First, dozens of popular LBP player-created levels vanish; later, Sony explains they have rules, and those levels violated their rule numero dos: no using copyrighted material. Of course, that whole issue could spawn entire discussions on its own, and it's still being hotly debated in any LBP forum you find.

After the initial level-deleting craze outrage died down a bit, Sony said they would be clearer on why levels are deleted, and reiterated that they wouldn’t just let mass-reporting by griefers flag levels for deletion without an investigation into the reasons, which many had accused them of doing. Then, this morning, The Azure Palace -– one of the most popular and best player-made levels in the game -– was inexplicably deleted, much to the disbelief of both Jesse and I. (In fact, I think Jesse is still rocking back and forth in the corner, hugging his tiny SackBoy plush while quietly singing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" to himself.)

So far, no one in the LBP community can figure out why The Azure Palace was scrapped by Sony. There are two main rules governing LBP creations: don’t use copyright material, and make them family friendly. From what I can remember when I played the level, there’s absolutely no copyrighted materials in it, and not a single penis monster. So ... why?

The question has spawned several topics across LBP and gaming communities (including the one started by the level’s creator on GameFAQs which features his ever-so-pleasant email to Media Molecule). There are three trains of thought at this point as to why the level was deleted:

1)    .hack//GU also features a level called The Azure Palace
2)    The bloodstains broke the family friendly rule
3)    Sony lied and some moderators are deleting content based on reports without investigating.

Given that the first reason is incredibly stupid, and that some official LBP levels feature more bloodstains than The Azure Palace could ever dream of, that leaves only option C, barring any other random reasons beyond our mere mortal comprehension.

Both Sony and Media Molecule have yet to offer any explanation or comment on the level’s deletion, but that’s not too surprising considering that it’s Sunday. Hopefully we’ll hear back from one of them tomorrow. Until then, LBP creators everywhere will just have to remain worried that their own creations can be deleted for no ascertainable reason. Unless you're making 9/11 simulators, that is. For some reason those can stay up, but underwater levels which perfectly showcase the whole purpose behind user-driven content in LBP like The Azure Palace? Absolutely not.

If you never got the chance to try The Azure Palace and want to see first-hand why this move makes no sense and pisses off LBP players, feel free to watch a video of the level here. Five virtual dollars to the person who can figure out why the hell it was deleted.

*UPDATE* While it hasn't gotten as much attention as The Azure Palace's removal (in no small part thanks to the lack of the creator posting on every forum about it), it seems that Geosautus's World of Colour has also been removed inexplicably from LBP despite the fact that it was a 100% original level which broke none of Sony's rules. Understandably, Geosautus -- widely considered the best of the player creators, and ironically interviewed by Media Molecule before LBP launched as one of the most promising designers -- is quite upset with how Sony is handling moderation and level removal.