Sony has been steadily growing their portfolio of first-party developers over the past couple of years, but could there be trouble brewing at one of their veteran studios? It was recently announced that Dreams, the latest ambitious “make your own game” project from LittleBigPlanet creators Media Molecule, was shutting down in the fall, and now it seems the studio is losing one of its founders.

　　Today Media Molecule co-founder and creative director Mark Healey announced he’s leaving to “chart a new course” in a tweet thread oddly filled with pirate references.

　　“So, after SEVENTEEN incredible years of co-birthing and building Media Molecule - I have decided it is time for me to fly the nest - set sail and chart a new course - today is my last day at [Media Molecule].

　　From LittleBigPlanet to Dreams and beyond - proud to have played my part and lucky to have jammed with some truly brilliant people - and such a wonderfully talented Community which I will continue to be a fan of, but a strong cosmic breeze is pulling me and my pirate heart is awakened, I'm not getting any younger so am going to indulge myself in the winds of my various curiosities for a while and see where they take me. So, here's to new beginnings, following one’s heart and exploring the unknown - Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum - I'm off on a Pirate adventure! (One that involves making games that is).”

　　So, what’s with all the pirate metaphors? Is Mark Healey setting sails with a new project, or is he perhaps hopping over to another UK developer to help them with a certain open-world pirate game? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

　　As for what this means for Media Molecule, well, it doesn’t feel good. Of course, people leave studios all the time, but the timing of Healey’s departure seems telling. It’s particularly worrisome given we currently don’t know what Media Molecule is working on next.

　　What do you think? Could Media Molecule be in trouble or will they bounce back like Sackboy?