Danish newspaper Borsen has new details on the departure of Dino Patti from Inside developer Playdead. The studio co-founder announced his departure in July of 2016, and now we know that the split wasn’t amicable. The Danish newspaper reports that there was a power struggle between Patti and his former partner Arnt Jensen. Reportedly they were barely speaking as of 2015, so the split was a long time coming.
When Patti left in 2016, he left the following message on Twitter. “Following almost 10 incredible years building Playdead from an idea to two dents in the games industry,” wrote Patti. “I’m leaving to seek new challenges.” We now know that the split required involvement from the Danish Business Authority, a regulative body in Denmark. Patti ended up agreeing to leave the studio, but received a payout of $7.2 million for his shares in the company. That means that Playdead is now managed by Jensen.
Kotaku was able to speak to Dino Patti over e-mail. Patti said that he thinks Playdead has a bright future as long as the company is “run sensibly.” He also said that the “supposed timeline for the next project(s) and where I am in my life now” was why he decided to leave after Inside was finished. Finally, he had some praise to give his former business partner calling Arnt Jensen “one of the best game-directors in the world.”
Playdead’s most recent game Inside released last year on Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4 to critical and commercial success. Their next project is currently unannounced.
