Ikea Gets Spooked By Furniture-Themed Horror Survival Game And Dials Up Its Lawyers

the store is closed store exterior
It is officially Halloween, the night when all the spookiest children dress up and beg strangers for candy. It's also an excellent day for spooky and scary gaming. One particular upcoming title, The Store is Closed, has an eerily similar environment to a rather well known Swedish furniture warehouse giant. That's why IKEA is threatening legal action against the solo developer which uses the name Ziggy.

Unfortunately for Ziggy, IKEA has issued a cease and desist letter to the developer relating to the as-of-yet unreleased co-op survival title. The game is set in an "infinite furniture store", and admittedly the exterior manages to keep a particular color pattern and theme that has caused certain news outlets to compare the game to the real-world retailer.


Store is Closed Kickstarter Trailer

The claim by IKEA is that the store's exterior signage and building design uses a blue and yellow color scheme, which is IKEA's brand and set up. Also, the "staff" in the game in the store are wearing striped orange shirts—though IKEA's shirts are yellow, the look is still strikingly similar. IKEA has worked with hardware manufacturers in the past, considering the partnership the company has with ASUS for its ROG branded furniture, but ripping off its likeness for a game may be another matter.

The Store is Closed is planned to be released on PC and all major console platforms. As of this writing the game has raised almost $61,700 on Kickstarter. That is well beyond its initial $11,605 goal, and it has managed to bypass many of its stretch goals as well. Hopefully this legal battle will not deter Ziggy from continuing to develop the "infinite furniture store survival horror game" of his dreams. So far it doesn't seem to be the case, as he is still posting on his Twitter, and there have still been some updates here and there on the Kickstarter.

store is closed staff
Store is Closed Staff

The title even includes popular pop-culture conspiracy organization the SCP Foundation. If you're interested in this title you can also back it yourself, or wishlist it on Steam to show interest there. We're certainly looking forward to building the survival fort of our dreams. Haven't you always wanted to steal pillows from one department and build a pillow fort in another?