Live Curation support for Dreams ending, after layoffs

Dreams developer Media Molecule has laid out new plans for its curation and community support, following layoffs at the studio.

In a blog post, Media Molecule said it would be saying goodbye to its curation team in the spring, following last year’s news of a ‘consultation process’ at the studio. “We want to be as transparent as possible with you on this,” the developer wrote, before explaining how this change in staff will impact Dreams.

The studio is currently set to end live support for the DreamSurfing playlist and DreamShaping creation workshop in mid-April. It said this will “coincide with the launch of new playlists alongside spotlighting the Dreams Recommender playlist providing tip-top recommendations based on what you’ve recently played in Dreams”.

Media Molecule said it wants to transition Dreams into a “self-sustaining platform”, with the proposed changes “helping to filter new creations through to regular Dreams players whilst creators reach their deserved audience for their games, animations, music and everything in between”.

There will be new front-page playlists, which the developer said will use tags such as ‘horror’ and ‘music’ in “combination with the Recommender to display an ever-changing selection of creations”. It said these playlists will exist in “addition to curated selections that you’ll already be familiar with – including Bring a Friend and Weird Wildcards”.

As for DreamShaping, Media Molecule is bringing together kits from both the developer itself and its Dreams community “to help creators find exactly what they need for their creations”. It asks that if there has been a particular kit players have found helpful to send it to the MmCuration team.

Even with these upcoming changes to Dreams, the developer said plenty will still stay the same, and it assured players it has no plans to take the game offline. It will also continue to support its community by sharing creations on its social media feeds and Twitch streams.

“It’s been a tough 12 months for both us here at Media Molecule and for those that see Dreams as a safespace and a place to express their creativity, and it’s our hope that people will be able to use Dreams in that way for a while to come,” it said. “Thank you for always being a kind, caring and supportive community and we hope to see you spending time in the Dreamiverse and beyond!”

Media Molecule previously announced it was set to discontinue live support for Dreams in April last year.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, it was reported that a PC and a PlayStation 5 version of Dreams were previously in development. However, these plans are no longer happening, with the decision made alongside Media Molecule’s aforementioned layoffs last year.