Playdead Co-Founder Faces Lawsuit From Fellow Founder

Playdead co-founder Dino Patti is being sued by fellow co-founder Arnt Jensen — the two have had a history of disputes dating years prior to the lawsuit. According to VGC, the studio lawyers are moving forward with the lawsuit, which accuses Patti of using an unauthorized photo owned by Jensen, who is supposedly asking for $77,000 as compensation. 

The photo was posted on LinkedIn, where Jensen claims Patti broke copyright by posting a lengthy description of Limbo’s ongoing development; the post has since been deleted. 

“We have found it necessary to take this action to protect our trademarks and copyrights, which are essential to Playdead’s business and reputation,” Playdead said in an email to Game Developer on March 10. 

The two founded Playdead in 2006, going on to release Limbo in 2010 across platforms. The studio’s next project release was Inside, which launched in 2016 for PlayStation, Mobile, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. Patti claims the two founders’ friendship began deteriorating years before Inside’s release; Patti departed the company in 2017, founding a new studio: Jumpship. 

Patti believes the legal action is Jensen’s way of attempting to eliminate Patti from Playdead’s history. The co-founder is posted on the first page of Inside’s credits, listed as an executive producer. Later re-releases of the title, such as the Switch version, list the cofounder much later on. 

Inside won numerous awards, including Best Game BAFTA’s 2017 Artistic Achievement, Game Design, and Best Original Property.