Media Molecule have spoken out in the wake of friday’s announcement that LittleBigPlanet is to be recalled due to the game’s use of quotes from the Qur’an. Over the weekend, the following statement was released via the developer’s website: “At MM we were as shocked and dismayed by this as anyone - shellshocked and gutted. Within 12 hours of hearing about this issue involving a lyric (in Somalian, I believe!), Media Molecule had prepared a new disk image ready; however a decision was made within Sony that the right thing to do for quality and support of people with no online was to replace existing disks.”

Media Molecule’s site has been so flooded by comments from angry gamers that the team were forced to plead for calm, saying in an update, “It seems this is as emotional for you as it was for us. However, please try to breath in and out and keep your commenting at least clean if not polite.”

Sony also revealed the new US ship date, “We will begin shipping LittleBigPlanet to retail in North America the week of October 27.” No official date for European release has been announced as yet.

Meanwhile, gameindustry.biz are reporting that copies of the game are already showing up on eBay. Some sellers are advertising the game as a “collector’s edition” and asking up to $250. That’s a big price to pay for a game that will be out in one week, its uniqueness patched away immediately upon going online.

Update: Sony now says the PAL version will be out “no later than the week commencing Monday 3rd November.”

Update 2: Sony confirms Nov. 5 release for UK.