IKEA recently sent a cease and desist letter to an indie video game developer asking that he make changes to his unreleased survival horror game set in an IKEA-like furniture store. The furniture giant is demanding the developer remove all references to IKEA from The Store Is Closed, an upcoming co-op survival game.
IKEA’s lawyers claim that the game infringes on trademarked properties because some press outlets have drawn comparisons between the company’s official brand and the store featured in the game. The Swedish organization has given the developer ten days to “change the game and remove all indicia associated with the famous IKEA stores.”
“While we think it’s flattering that others are inspired by the IKEA brand, we must be diligent to ensure that the IKEA trademarks and trade dress are not misapplied,” reads a statement from IKEA UK that was given to Kotaku. “Various elements of the video game currently correspond in appearance with the IKEA brand features. We’ve reached out to the creator of the video and asked them to make changes to those elements to ensure that this is no longer the case. They expressed that they understand our request and agreed to make those changes. This should all be well in time for the expected 2024 launch of the game.”
The Store Is Closed has been described as an SCP-inspired horror video game. While an exact release date for the title has not been officially announced, we can confirm that this online game will be available on PCs, the Xbox Series X|S, and PS5s.
(All information was provided by GameSpot, Kickstarter, and Kotaku)
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