Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney,[a] Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the firm in 2010.

Before the company's formation, the co-founders, led by Healey, developed Rag Doll Kung Fu, whilst working at Lionhead Studios.

Four former Lionhead Studios' employees—Alex Evans, Kareem Ettouney, Mark Healey, and David Smith—founded Media Molecule, incorporating it on 4 January 2006.

[27] Before the founding of Media Molecule, Evans and Healey worked at Bullfrog Productions for its co-founder Peter Molyneux.

[29][30] Soon after, the co-founders, led primarily by Healey, developed Rag Doll Kung Fu in their spare time whilst working at Lionhead Studios.

[35][31][34] The founders left Lionhead Studios in December 2005 and met with Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) regarding a game idea.

[10][7] They pitched an early precursor of what LittleBigPlanet was to become dubbed Craftworld to Phil Harrison, the head of development for Sony Worldwide Studios.

[5][10][16][7] Evans described the company's formation as a combination of the boost from Rag Doll Kung Fu, some new ideas bubbling in his head, and the new wave of consoles around the corner.

"[12][41][42] Pre-production was extended until August when Media Molecule met with Sony executives, including Harrison, to decide whether to greenlight the game's production.

"[45][46][47] 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.

[16][43][49] 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.

Over the years they have consistently shown their dedication to Creative Gaming and Media Molecule, not only through their support of the company, but their willingness to take risks and embrace our often unusual approach and ideas.

[73][74] In June, it was confirmed that LittleBigPlanet PS Vita was not being developed by Media Molecule but by Double Eleven, Tarsier Studios and XDev.

[8] In July at Gamelab 2011 in Barcelona, Reddy announced that Media Molecule were stepping away from LittleBigPlanet to focus on new game ideas.

[79][80] In July at a Develop conference, the co-founders said they were still involved with LittleBigPlanet 2 pointing to the upcoming PlayStation Move level pack as an example of their on-going work.

"[81][82] Evans elaborated by saying that Media Molecule is no longer a "single-threaded company" and noted developing similar games all the time would become stale.

[81][82] In January 2012, Media Molecule had spent £4.1 million on research and development on new, innovative games aiming to reduce the reliance on the LittleBigPlanet brand name.

[85] In March 2015, Young left Media Molecule to become a game audio freelancer, though he continued working on Unfolded.

[87][88] Crowle and LittleBigPlanet programmer, Moo Yu, founded Foam Sword in November 2015 and released their debut title Knights and Bikes in August 2019.

[97][98][99] They opened this workspace to accommodate a group of developers who had been commuting to and from their headquarters, allowing them to reduce travel times.

[103] In September 2020, Evans announced he was leaving after serving for 13 years as a technical director at the studio, saying he wanted a break from game development.

In 2006, Evans said that Media Molecule wants to stay as small as possible whilst being able to produce a AAA game, aiming to keep the number of employees below thirty.

[62][63][64] It is a series of puzzle platformer games that follow Sackboy a small, brown, anthropomorphic, humanoid creature made of fabric with a zip fastener and button eyes across a variety of levels.

[128][129][130] The series features user-generated content, allowing players to create levels which can be shared and played by others online.

[131] The game utilises the PlayStation Vita's numerous sensors and inputs when interacting with the in-game environment like the rear touchpad, touchscreen, and cameras.

[133][134] Dreams is a game creation system allowing players to create and share their own levels similar to that of LittleBigPlanet.

Players can create games from a range of different genres including point-and-click adventures, puzzle-platformers, and shoot'em ups.

[103] Players interact with the game's world by controlling an "imp", similar to a mouse cursor, to create new items and characters.