Yesterday, the LEGO® Group announced the end of Bricks and Pieces. Today, we learned that another fan favorite service is coming to an end. However, much like Bricks and Pieces merging with Pick A Brick, today’s announcement does not leave builders without an alternative. Join us as we say RIP LEGO Digital Designer, and look forward to a new focus on Bricklink’s Studio.
Since 2004, AFOLs have built with virtual bricks through LEGO® Digital Designer (LDD). This software provided an endless supply of digital bricks for custom creations. Interestingly, when the program launched, fans were able to order bricks for their creations directly through the software. The initiative was called LEGO® Design byME. However, that program ended in 2012. The LEGO® Group cited quality issues as the main reason. LDD continued until 2016 as a simple building program, at which point it stopped receiving funds for updates. A final update arrived in 2019, and the program existed in limbo since. Now, on January 31, 2022, LDD will no longer be available for download.
RIP LEGO Digital Designer 2004 – 2022
While LDD’s run comes to an end, there is reason to be optimistic. You might recall that the LEGO® Group acquired Bricklink 2019. While Bricklink specializes as a secondary market for LEGO® sets and elements, the platform also offered Studio. This online software was developed in 2014 as an alternative to the fizzling LDD. It feel under the LEGO® Group’s ownership along with Bricklink in 2019. Moving forward, Studio will now become the LEGO® Group’s official virtual building software. The program boasts the ability to import all your own LDD files, while also offering model stability checking, an instructions generator, and photo realistic rendering of your models. To download the free program for your computer, visit Bricklink. Are you sad to see LEGO Digital Designer go? Are you looking forward to Studio and potential improvements? Let us know in the comments below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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