New PlayStation Exclusive Animal Crossing Replacement Reportedly Coming 2027

One of PlayStation's in-development first-party projects is reportedly a social simulation à la Animal Crossing. Nintendo's cozy game series has a rich legacy, but reached newfound popularity with the most recent console entry, Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2020. Cozy games at large have really taken off in the last decade or so, offering relaxation in gaming, but PlayStation has yet to try its hand.

That may now be changing, as Media Molecule is said to be developing a social simulation game with open-world elements, according to MP1st. The untitled project is "inspired by titles such as Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon," and is a brand-new property. Media Molecule's social sim will reportedly be revealed and released next year, in 2027, though plans are subject to change.

Media Molecule has flown under the radar in recent years. The first-party PlayStation developer rose to prominence in the PS3 era with LittleBigPlanet and its sequels and spin-offs. Media Molecule's two Tearaway games were also well-received, but the studio's latest release was 2020's Dreams, an ambitious game creation platform that never saw widespread adoption.

Dreams largely relied on user-created content, initially coming to the PS4 near the end of the console's life cycle, and active post-launch support was stopped after three years. Dreams was ultimately a very time-consuming project, having first been publicly hinted at in 2012. In the meantime, Sony kept the LittleBigPlanet series alive with a platforming spin-off, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, developed by third-party developer Sumo Digital.

Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet chops lend the right kind of atmosphere for the studio undertaking a social simulation, but the unannounced project is reportedly a new IP, meaning it won't be connected to an existing series or game. Details beyond the broad genre descriptor, and the fact that it will have some form of open world, are nonexistent.

Is PlayStation Finally Making a Cozy Game?

Not every cozy game has enjoyed the immense success of Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, but the genre only grows more popular every year, and PlayStation's stable of developers haven't really taken a crack at it. This report on Media Molecule's next project follows Marvel's Wolverine reviews and its lukewarm reception with audiences, which has put PlayStation's exclusives under a microscope.

Wolverine scored respectably, but it did land well below the usually sterling reception of other major PlayStation Studios titles, Insomniac Games' previous outings included. While games like Saros, MLB The Show, and Until Dawn 2 dispel the notion that PlayStation Studios are a one-trick pony, there is clearly room for more variety in the brand's exclusives slate.

A cozy life sim and other more novel projects could go a long way in restoring faith in a brand that's still catching a lot of flak for its upcoming abandonment of discs in 2028. An Animal Crossing competitor is a smart move against Nintendo, which continues to prove that a varied first-party ecosystem can still thrive, and Media Molecule feels like the right fit for such a project at PlayStation.

See at Amazon 0:00 / 0:00