'Inside' team teases its next project following company turmoil

It's been quite the week for Playdead fans. First came some explanation for why the typically lock-jawed studio behind Limbo and Inside lost one of its cofounders last July. Then, the team tweeted out a teaser image for its next project. Absolutely nothing is known about the game other than it might have something to do with a comet and that its protagonist might be an astronaut of sorts. Oh, and it's using a subdued color palette and stylized visual motif. Par for the course here, really.

The thing is, given the studio's history, it could be all we see of the game for a few years. Games typically take between two to four years to develop, but Playdead's seem to have bigger gaps between them precisely because the studio operates in silence for extended periods of time. And even during the launch window, the studio rarely does any sort of press. Founded in 2006, the Danish team has only released two games since -- Limbo in 2010 and Inside in 2016. With the latter, it debuted in 2014 during Microsoft's E3 keynote and then wasn't heard of again until last year's Xbox E3 keynote.

That release schedule coupled with IP ownership was purported to have caused a rift between co-founder and former employee Dino Patti and creative director Arnt Jensen, a claim Patti swiftly dismissed to GamesIndustry.biz. "However, [Patti] did confirm that the conflict lead to Jensen submitting a letter of resignation, and that the nature of that letter is what lead to the irreconcilable differences resulting in Patti's departure."

Neither party has gone into further details on the matter. As far as Patti goes it doesn't sound like he's leaving video games behind, though. He told GamesIndustry that he might have something to share later this year about the "different opportunities" he was exploring.

What's more, he even retweeted Playdead's announcement about its next project and has been doing the same for accolades that Inside rightfully garnered late last year. It scored a few from the Engadget gaming crew, with Associate Editor Nick Summers naming it his favorite game from 2016.

Speaking directly of the ending, Summers said "it elevates and already beautiful puzzle platformer into something quite extraordinary." With the game available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, there aren't many excuses left if you haven't played it yet.