IKEA has threatened legal action against The Store is Closed developer. The game is in development by Ziggy, a one-man studio consisting of developer Jacod Shaw. The title is a co-op horror-survival game set in an ‘infinite furniture store’ where players will ‘craft weapons and build fortifications to survive the night’ and ‘build towers to the sky to find a way out.’
Related: Hiro Capital invests $1.6 million in Loric Games
Kotaku has reviewed the cease and desist letter from Fross Zelnick, Ikea’s New York-based legal representatives, which details some of the retailer’s complaints.
“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.”
Shaw shared an early alpha build with Kotaku and addressed some of the retailer’s complaints. For example, the in-game store is called ‘STYR’ which is both a play on the word ‘STORE’ and means ‘controls’ in Swedish.
The blue box-like building only appears on the game’s menu screen, and so does the blue and yellow signage. The furniture displayed in-game comes from generic furniture asset packs Shaw purchased.
Nonetheless, the retailer’s lawyers maintain that The Store Is Closed constitutes “unauthorized use of the IKEA indicia constitutes unfair competition and false advertising under Sections 43(a) of the U.S. Trademark Act, 15 U.S. C § 1125(a), and state unfair competition and false advertising laws.”
They have given Shaw ten working days to make all the requested changes. While he is seeking legal counsel, he will likely comply with IKEA’s request.
Shaw told Kotaku,
“I was going to spend the last week of my Kickstarter preparing an update for all the new alpha testers, but now I’ve got to desperately revamp the entire look of the game so I don’t get sued.”
The Store is Closed has a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $11,605. As of the writing of this article, $61,702 has been pledged by 1,349 backers, and 3 days remain in the campaign. The Store is Closed will be available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.
