According to documents viewed by Kotaku, the one-man studio Jacob Shaw has received a cease and desist from furniture maker Ikea. This is directly related to Shaw’s upcoming co-operative survival game The Store Is Closed which has players crafting towers and weapons while finding a way to escape a “infinite furniture store.”
This seemingly became noticed by Ikea after some outlets discussed the title with many noting the similarities to that of the iconic store. It also doesn’t help that it promotional material several familiarizes can be noticed including clothing, furniture, flooring, and matching color-schemes.
Kotaku receives the following statement from Ikea UK:
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.
The Store is Closed is currently running a Kickstarter campaign and is in development for PC via Steam.
