Playdead co-founder says the studio is suing him, accuses it of trying to erase his involvement in Limbo and Inside

The co-founder of Limbo and Inside studio Playdead says he’s now being sued by the studio.

Dino Patti – who co-founded Playdead with Limbo director Arnt Jensen – has said that after being threatened with legal action earlier this year, the studio’s lawyers intend to move forward with a lawsuit against him.

Patti had previously told Game Developer in March that Playdead was threatening legal action, mainly for a LinkedIn post he made in late 2004 containing a “lengthy description” of Limbo’s development, and including an “unauthorised” photo that was owned by Jensen, who subsequently asked for 500,000 DKK ($77,000) as compensation.

Now, in an interview with Danish publication Arkaden, Patti says Playdead’s lawyers intend to proceed with the lawsuit, meaning the trial is set to go ahead.

According to Patti, the lawsuit is the culmination of a falling-out with Jensen. The pair founded Playdead in 2006 and went on to release the critically acclaimed Limbo in 2010, followed by the similarly well-received Inside in 2016.

However, Patti says their friendship started to deteriorate a couple of years before the release of Inside, and Patti eventually left Playdead in 2017 to found new studio Jumpship, which released its first game Somerville in 2022.

Patti alleges that the lawsuit is part of Jensen’s attempt to erase him from Playdead’s history, pointing out that the credits for the initial release of the game listed Patti on the first page as executive producer, but that subsequent re-releases after he left placed him much lower down the list (in the Switch version, Patti’s name is on the third page of the credits).

In a legal letter sent to Patti by Playdead’s lawyers following his behind-the-scenes LinkedIn post, it was suggested that Patti was trying to say he was more involved the game’s development than he actually was.

“We want to repeat and caution that your continued use of Playdead’s assets and any disclosure and exploitation of inside knowledge about Playdead for commercial purposes is infringing and constitutes breach of confidentiality clauses,” the letter read.

“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.”

Patti said he hopes the upcoming trial will let him speak openly about the situation without fear of legal consequences, saying: “The cool thing is that journalists like you [Arkaden] can request access to everything that happens. And I won’t hold anything back – I’ll basically be legally required to release all the images and materials showing what’s gone on.”