Lawyers for IKEA have reached out to the developer of an indie horror game over similarities of the store being used in it.
According to a Kotaku report, Ikea’s New York legal representatives Fross Zelnick have written to solo U.K. developer Jacob Shaw, giving him just 10 days to “remove all indicia associated with the famous Ikea stores” from his game “The Store is Closed.”
“The Store Is Closed” is an unreleased co-op survival game, that’s just in the final week of a successful Kickstarter campaign that’s raised just over $49,000. Created by a lone developer, going by the studio name Ziggy, the game describes itself as “being set in an infinite furniture store.”
In the letter seen by Kotaku, Ikea’s lawyers say that the game “uses, without our client’s authorization, indicia associated with the famous IKEA stores.”
It defines these “indicia” as follows: “Your game uses a blue and yellow sign with a Scandinavian name on the store, a blue box-like building, yellow vertical stiped shirts identical to those worn by Ikea personnel, a gray path on the floor, furniture that looks like Ikea furniture, and product signage that looks like Ikea signage. All the foregoing immediately suggest that the game takes place in an Ikea store.”
Ikea’s argument hinges that the game infringes on their brand because press sites have made the association, rather than the game itself aligning naming Ikea.
One headline says, ‘Someone Has Made a Survival Horror Game Set In IKEA.’ Another headline says, ‘The Backrooms meets Sons of the Forest in new IKEA horror game.’
IKEA said in a statement afterwards:
“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.
“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.
“We wish the creator of the game the best of luck!
