Sony decided to finally let the cat out of the bag. Today they announced LittleBigPlanet 2, whose existence had been confirmed a few times by other sources.

"LittleBigPlanet has always empowered users to create their own levels by utilizing the same tools as the development team. Now in LittleBigPlanet 2, we’ve upped the ante, giving players the ability to not only make better levels, but completely new games – think top-down racing games, multiplayer shooters, flying side-scrollers, RPGs, etc.," said SCEA PR Manager Eric Levine on PlayStation.Blog. "The possibilities are really endless."

The game's first trailer shows off these new game types as well as the standard sequel features - better graphics, new items, and so forth. Levine also cleared up a couple fan concerns on the PlayStation.Blog comments section: yes, Stephen Fry will be lending his voice to the game and yes, all levels made in the first LittleBigPlanet can be used in LBP2.

Now that the game's been formally announced, expect a bunch of press previews. For example, the June issue of Game Informer will have an article on the game.