Playdead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Playdead
Type Private
Industry Interactive Entertainment
Founded 2006
Founder(s) Arnt Jensen, Dino Patti
Headquarters Copenhagen, Denmark
Products Limbo
Services Video game development
Employees 21
Website Official site

Playdead is an independent video game developer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company was founded in 2006 by Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti. The two created the company to bring to fruition their premiere title, Limbo, a game for the Xbox Live Arcade that was released in 2010 to high critical praise.[1][2] After a year of Xbox Live exclusivity, Playdead released their ports of the game for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network, for Microsoft Windows via Steam, and Mac OS X via the Mac App Store.

Jensen, originally a developer at IO Interactive, drew sketches in 2004 that led him to the idea for Limbo. Having tried programming the game himself, he eventually sought for additional help through an art-based teaser for the game in 2006. This led to a meeting between Jensen and Patti. Patti soon realized the project was larger than the two of them, and together they founded the company, initially using their private funds and government grants before obtaining larger investments.[3] Playdead eventually came to have eight employees during Limbo's development, with temporary increases of up to 16 through freelancers. Limbo's success led them to be able to reacquire the company back from investors, and making Playdead fully owned by itself.[4]

According to Patti, as of October 2010, Playdead is currently working on its second game; the game, partially funded by the Danish Film Institute, has the working title of Project 2.[5][6] Project 2 is described by the Danish newspaper Politiken as a spiritual sequel to Limbo.[7][8] It is a 2.5D platform game, using three dimensional graphics while the playfield remains in two dimensions, and utilizes the Unity engine; Playdead opted for the existing solution instead of their custom-built engine they had created for Limbo, to reduce their efforts.[9] While the game is in color, the title remains dark and nearly monotone in color. It is planned for release on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 systems. According to an August 2011 interview with Patti, the title's development cycle will take about three and a half years.[9]

List of video games

Year Title Platform(s) Notes
iOS Mac PS3 Vita Win X360
2010 Limbo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Running under Linux using WINE or native
TBD Project 2 No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

References

  1. Alexander, Leigh (2010-02-18). "Road To The IGF: Limbo's Dino Patti". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
  2. Gillon, Kieron (2010-02-22). "IGF Factor 2010: Limbo". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
  3. Thompsen, Michael (2010-09-14). "How Limbo Came To Life". IGN. Retrieved 2010-09-19. 
  4. Wiltshire, Alex (2011-08-31). "Playdead has bought itself back from its investors". Edge. Retrieved 2011-08-31. 
  5. Cullen, Johnny (2010-10-11). "Limbo devs working on new IP". VG247. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  6. Schramm, Mike (2010-10-11). "Limbo creators working on new IP". Joystiq. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  7. Vigild, THOMAS (2011-12-21). "Her er fremtidens danske spil (Here is the future Danish games)". Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 2012-06-13. ""Den største samlede støtte kommer dog fra Det Danske Filminstitut, der i år har støttet syv større spil heriblandt den dystre sjælelige efterfølger med arbejdstitlen 'Project 2' til det prisbelønnede 'LIMBO' instrueret af Arnt Jensen fra udvikleren PLAYDEAD." ("The largest total support comes from the Danish Film Institute, which this year has supported seven major games including the bleak spiritual sequel with the working title 'Project 2' to the award winning 'LIMBO' directed by Arnt Jensen Developer PLAY DEAD.")" 
  8. Superannunation (2012-06-13). "It’s Time to Start Worrying About Thief 4". Kotaku. Retrieved 2012-06-13. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Brown, Nathan (2011-08-25). "Playdead using Unity for next project". Edge. Retrieved 2011-08-26. 


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