Limbo was conceived around 2004 by Arnt Jensen, a concept artist at IO Interactive who had grown frustrated with the company's corporate direction. His art-style trailer attracted enough interest that he met Dino Patti, and the two founded Playdead to make the game. Limbo uses a minimalist, monochrome style, only two extra controls (jumping and grabbing), and no tutorial text, so players learn by playing. Its audio was built from abstract sound effects rather than music, and the team deliberately left the ending open.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.