Legal Battle Erupts Over Playdead Founder’s Dispute

The co-founders of Playdead, Dino Patti and Arnt Jensen, are currently embroiled in a public conflict over intellectual property rights. This dispute traces back to a LinkedIn post from 2024 that has since been deleted. In that post, Patti shared an image owned by Jensen. Following this, Jensen has requested a compensation of DKK 500,000 (about $72,600) from Patti, according to Game Developer.

Jensen’s legal team has issued a warning, stating, “We urge you to cease using Playdead’s assets and refrain from leveraging insider knowledge about Playdead for any commercial gain, as it violates confidentiality agreements.” Patti shared this “legal love letter” on LinkedIn, amplifying the drama.

The letter further accused Patti of misleadingly presenting himself as having had a significant creative role in the development of Limbo. It stated, “Such representations give an inaccurate impression to both business partners and the gaming community, as you did not actually have a vital part in the creative development of Limbo.”

Patti, on his part, claims that Jensen has attempted to “bully” him in the past, which prompted him to bring the matter into the public sphere.

In response, Playdead conveyed to Game Developer via email that they have “formalized demands” to Patti concerning what they see as “infringement and unauthorized use of Playdead’s trademarks and creative works for both commercial and marketing purposes.”

The studio stated, “Ensuring the protection of our trademarks and copyrights is crucial to maintaining Playdead’s business interests and reputation, which is why we’ve had to take this firm stance.”

Playdead was founded some years back and has since released two iconic indie games: Limbo in 2010 and Inside in 2016. The foundations of the current conflict were laid when Patti departed in 2016 amid reports of discord with Jensen.