At one point, Sony wanted to have exclusive rights to Limbo. The requestfor IP rights made the indie adventure game go instead to Microsoft in 2010, and then to the PlayStation Network and Steam a year after.
Sony Computer Entertainment’s executive producer Pete Smith said the company was talking with Playdead, the Danish studio behind Limbo, about releasing the game exclusively on PSN. But when Sony said it wanted to retain IP rights, the deal broke down, according to Edge.
The information came during the Develop Conference last week. "I maybe shouldn’t say this, but we had issues when we were trying to sign Limbo because of the IP," Smith said.
"There are obvious benefits to keeping it, but also to giving it up: you’re way more likely to get the deal,” he said. The game sold well on XBLA and was the top-selling third-party game on PSN in 2011.
"Sometimes all we want is protection so [devs] don’t make a game, finish it then go to one of our rivals,” he said. “We look at IP on a case by case basis. With a bit of common sense, you can find common ground."