Playdead, the Danish developer of excellent indies like Limbo and Inside, was founded by Dino Patti and Arnt Jensen in 2006. Patti departed the studio following the release of Inside in 2016, and apparently, there is no love lost between the two. Things have been turning quite nasty behind the scenes, finally spilling into the public eye, and Playdead has officially responded.
As reported by Game Developer, Jensen has been threatening legal action against Patti for the past decade, after things "went downhill" between the two. Things recently came to a head when Jensen sent Patti a "legal love letter" on 3rd March, claiming Patti broke copyright after posting a "lengthy description" of Limbo's development in a LinkedIn post (since deleted) in late 2024. That post allegedly featured an "unauthorised picture" owned by Jensen, who wants the equivalent of $72,630 in "suitable compensation and reimbursement".
Patti has gone public because he claims that the last time "[Arnt] tried to bully me, I told [him] I’d make it public." Patti says he was a "significant part of building Playdead from the ground up... Without me, Playdead wouldn't have existed. That's not ego, that's a fact."
Game Developer reached out to Playdead, and the studio confirmed it had "submitted demands" to Patti regarding his alleged "infringement and unauthorized use of Playdead's trademarks and copyrighted works in a commercial and marketing context". The studio claims: "We have found it necessary to take this action to protect our trademarks and copyrights, which are essential to Playdead's business and reputation."