Playdead

Playdead is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 2006 by game designer Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti, the studio has released two games, Limbo and Inside, both of which are considered among the finest indie games ever made. Patti left Playdead in 2016, selling his shares to Jensen, and has since gone on to co-found Jumpship. Jensen continues to lead the studio which employs around 70 to 100 people across Copenhagen and Vilnius. A third game is in development, being published by Epic Games Publishing.

Playdead Key Games

Limbo (2010)

Limbo began as a sketch by Arnt Jensen in 2004. He pitched it to Dino Patti and they founded Playdead to make it. The game launched as an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive in July 2010 and received universal critical acclaim. A monochrome 2D platformer-puzzle game following a boy searching for his sister in a dark limbo world, it won multiple awards and was ported to almost every platform that existed. Limbo’s success allowed Playdead to buy back the studio from their early investors and become fully independent.

Inside (2016)

Inside was self-funded and self-published by Playdead. A 2.5D platformer and spiritual successor to Limbo, it is set in a dystopian world where a boy infiltrates a facility running sinister experiments on mind-controlled humans. The game received even more praise than Limbo, with many critics calling it a masterpiece. Martin Stig Andersen’s soundtrack, created using bone conduction through a human skull, is one of the more unsettling pieces of game audio ever produced. Inside is worth playing twice.

The Third Game and What’s Next

Playdead announced in 2020 that Epic Games would publish their third game, with Epic covering full development costs and a 50/50 profit split after recoupment. Jensen has described it as a fairly lonely sci-fi game set somewhere in the universe with a third-person perspective in a 3D world. Image teasers in job listings suggest a vast, cold science fiction setting. After Limbo and Inside there is significant anticipation. In 2025, a legal dispute between Playdead and Dino Patti over credit for Limbo’s development became public. The situation is ongoing.