A lone indie developer's unannounced survival horror game set in an Ikea-like furniture store has received a cease and desist notice from the furniture giant, in an unexpected action, according to a Kotaku review. Because several media outlets have made analogies between the game and their official brand, Ikea, Ikea's attorneys assert that the game violates trademark laws. Developer Jacob Shaw has only ten days to "alter the game and eliminate all indicia linked with the famed Ikea stores," according to the Swedish company.
Unreleased co-op survival game The Store Is Closed is currently in the final week of a successful Kickstarter campaign that has raised little over $49,000. The game was developed by a lone individual under the company name Ziggy, and it is described as "being set in an infinite furniture store."
The description continues, "You'll need to make weapons and construct defenses to survive the night." To find a way out, "explore the underground SCP laboratory and build towers to the sky." Like in a genuine Ikea, you know? Importantly, not once has the word "Ikea" been used in any of the game's promotional materials, on its Steam page, or during its Kickstarter campaign.
Ikea's New York lawyers, Fross Zelnick, have written to Shaw asking that he completely remove anything in the game that would serve as a reminder of their brand, despite the fact that the game is not actually for sale anywhere.
The legal letter states, "Our client has heard that you are producing a video game, "The Store is Closed," which "uses, without our client's knowledge, indicia linked with the well-known IKEA stores."
The list of Shaw's game's infringements continues after that.
The "blue box-like building" and "blue and yellow sign" are fully visible on the menu screen in the early alpha build of the game that Shaw provided me access to. After that, they vanish from view. At the moment, there is absolutely no branding in-game. "STYR" is the name of the store. It is, by chance, a Swedish word that means "controls," while being obviously a funny spelling of "STORE." What word isn't Swedish, you ask? “Ikea.” Its founder's initials, the farm he grew up on, and a nearby village all appear in the name. Intriguingly, retailers like Tiffany have a trademark on the shade of color that appears on their packaging, so Ikea isn't entirely out of left field here.
The "blue box-like building" and "blue and yellow sign" are fully visible on the menu screen in the early alpha build of the game that Shaw provided me access to. After that, they vanish from view. At the moment, there is absolutely no branding in-game. "STYR" is the name of the store. It is, by chance, a Swedish word that means "controls," while being obviously a funny spelling of "STORE." What word isn't Swedish, you ask? “Ikea.” Its founder's initials, the farm he grew up on, and a nearby village all appear in the name. Intriguingly, retailers like Tiffany have a trademark on the shade of color that appears on their packaging, so Ikea isn't entirely out of left field here.
Ikea's claim that the game violates their brand is predicated on press outlets making the association rather than Ikea being mentioned in the game itself.
Someone Has Created a Survival Horror Game Set in IKEA, according to one headline. The Backrooms and Sons of the Forest are combined in a new IKEA horror game, according to another headline.
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