Earlier this week, Sony’s Pete Smith revealed what many believe to be LittleBigPlanet’s first bad news. During a presentation for the game at Leipzig’s Games Convention, Smith announced that user generated levels -- that is, levels created by players using the tools packaged with the game and uploaded to share with other users -- would be region-locked, preventing levels designed in Europe from crossing the Pond to the United States.

Having been touted in previous press releases as a world-wide venture, those following the game’s journey to release met the news with confusion and, often times, disappointment. It seems, however, that Smith’s declaration was incorrect, as a representative from Sony Europe explain on the company’s official forums:

Hi all, as many of you may have heard already in an interview at Leipzig the senior producer for LittleBigPlanet announced that the game is region locked. This is in fact not the case, and all shared levels in the game will be available worldwide. The confusion arose out of regional differences in how moderation will work as there are different legal rules each region have to play by, and at one point this looked like it may require the game to be independent in each region - however this has been worked around and there will only be one region for the game.... a LittleBigRegion.

Apologies for any confusion over this issue, however I’m pretty sure you’re happy with the result.

When it comes to LittleBigPlanet, I’m excited as the next guy. I’m always amazing by the creative talents of the inevitable minority who take whatever tools are given and make something compelling, whether it be a good video on Youtube or a compelling Flash game, and a console game designed with those sorts in mind is an experience not to be missed. One could almost hear the collective sigh of relief when Sam_Protagonist made his/her post on the Sony Europe forums, and LittleBigPlanet’s din of excitement returned. Let’s not hear anything like this again, alright Sony?