Playdead

Playdead ApS is a Danish independent video game developer based in Copenhagen. Game designers Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti created the company in 2006 to develop Limbo, which was released in 2010 to critical acclaim.[2][3] After a year of Xbox 360 exclusivity, Playdead released ports of the game to PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.

During Xbox's E3 2014 conference, Playdead announced its second game, Inside, which was a spiritual successor to Limbo. It was released for Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and PlayStation 4 in 2016 to critical acclaim, and was hailed as a worthy successor to Limbo.

History

Patti's departure

Shortly after the release of Inside, on 19 July 2016, Patti left the company, selling his shares to Jensen. Patti felt that he was leaving Playdead "in a state where it can definitely manage itself", and stated "Following almost 10 incredible years building Playdead from an idea to two dents in the games industry, I'm leaving to seek new challenges."[21] Danish newspaper Dagbladet Børsen reported that a rift had developed between Patti and Jensen around 2015, which Patti described to Kotaku as "the supposed timeline for the next project(s) and where I am in my life now". The rift led to Jensen submitting a resignation letter to Patti from his position as creative director, though intending to stay on as a company executive. The letter had been misinterpreted by Patti as a full resignation from the company, and he subsequently removed Jensen's name from the Central Business Register for Playdead. This led to confrontation between the two and their representative lawyers that required intervention of the Danish Business Authority to resolve.[22] This ultimately led to Patti taking a deal to sell his shares for 50 million Danish kroner (about US$7.2 million).[22] Patti was disappointed by the way his involvement with Playdead ended, but said that "Arnt has been a really good friend and business partner for many years".[23][24][22] Patti went on to found a new UK-based studio, Jumpship, along with film animator Chris Olsen, by June 2017.[25] Jumpship's first game Somerville, released in 2022, has been compared favorably to Playdead's formula.[26][27]

Both Playdead and Patti affirmed that in March 2025 there had been complaints sent by Playdead to Patti related to "infringement and unauthorized use of Playdead's trademarks and copyrighted works in a commercial and marketing context", and threatening to sue Patti for (around US$77,000).[28] Jensen stated in the complaint to Patti that he had published a description of Limbo development on his LinkedIn profile in 2024 which included use of unauthorized copyright materials, and "By providing recipients with core insights to the process of developing Limbo, you are falsely giving the impression that you played a significant role, including a creative role, in the development of the game."[29] Patti removed the post but said that Playdead continued to pressure him on this matter.[28] By June 2025, Patti said that Playdead had filed a formal lawsuit against him over this dispute and that Playdead was trying to remove his contribution to Limbo and Inside.[29]

GOG.com said they were pulling Limbo and Inside from their storefront in July 2025 but without any explanation; this was speculated by players to be related to the ongoing lawsuit.[30]

type	Private
industry	Video games
founded	2006
founders	Arnt Jensen Dino Patti
hq location city	Copenhagen
hq location country	Denmark
key people	Arnt Jensen
products	Limbo Inside
num employees	100+‡R1R‡
num employees year	2025
website	playdead.com

History

Patti's departure

Games developed

External links

References