IKEA sues indie game developer over survival horror game set in furniture store

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Ikea-sues-indie-game-developer-over-survival-horror-game-set-in-furniture-store.665470.0.html

by ummonk • 4 years ago

28 16 4 years ago

notebookcheck.net

iLoveOncall3• 4 years ago

The title is wrong, they have not sued him, they sent a cease and desist letter.

They have also been perfectly reasonable, because they only ask him to change the assets that make it directly identifiable as an Ikea store.

It's a non-story really.

Read the kotaku article, it's way better and show how measured Ikea has been: https://kotaku.com/ikea-furniture-horror-game-store-is-close...

Kubuxu• 4 years ago

He should just rename it to IDEA: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q_gY90vH3t0/maxresdefault.jpg

partomniscient• 4 years ago

I too wondered whether this article was going to be about Escape From Tarkov.

In Tarkov you can visit the IDEA store, eat a 'slickers' bar, and even find Blaypoy magazines.

For the curious, here are links to a few more images of the inside of the IDEA store area on the interchange map:

https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/314

https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/315

https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/316

jhbadger• 4 years ago

Yeah, you can do a parody of Ikea without infringing on them. The basic idea for this game seems to be taken from Grady Hendrix's 2014 novel "Horrorstör" which is obviously set in an Ikea, even though in-universe it is called "ORSK". I don't think Ikea did anything about that.

WastingMyTime89• 4 years ago

Hardly reasonable. It’s a parody it should be fine. They probably would never have won the trial but they have the money.

The way modern corporation protects their branding is a huge infringement on artistic liberty and freedom of expression. It’s disturbing.

iLoveOncall3• 4 years ago

The way modern corporation protects their branding is a huge infringement on artistic liberty and freedom of expression. It’s disturbing.

Except they HAVE to defend their branding, or they could lose the right to it. If you don't enforce it you lose the right to enforce it.

mikkergp• 4 years ago

They even responded to Kotaku and said it was simply to protect the trademark, and they'd come to an agreement with the game maker. Blame trademark law, not Ikea

clnq• 4 years ago

Not to mention that they have or used to have fake video game boxes in their stores clearly using the likeness of video games. "Call of Mutti", "Grand Ma's Auto" - https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/2xhloo/fake_games_a....

I suppose hipocricy doesn't apply if you're a rich enough corp.

yellowapple• 4 years ago

If I were in IKEA's shoes, instead of suing / sending a C&D I'd lean into the parody and say "hey, we're cool with this as long as we can sell boxed copies in IKEA stores". Indie dev wins, IKEA wins, win-win.

Instead, indie dev loses, IKEA loses (and looks like a bunch of humorless jerks), lose-lose.

iLoveOncall3• 4 years ago

The publicity the game is getting out of those articles is a massive win for the developer.

It's also a win for Ikea because their request is reasonable and their communication open, but they still defend their brand image.

Seems like a win-win to me.

_def• 4 years ago

Ha, only recently I read the SCP this is based on (I assume). It's a fun read, especially the journal: https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-3008

tgsovlerkhgsel• 4 years ago

Aren't trademarks restricted to the areas of business for which a trademark was registered? Is the IKEA trademark registered for video games?

Edit: Video games seem to be Nice class 9 https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/nclpub/en/fr/?basi... and after some fighting with the atrocious WIPO interface it does seem like some of their trademarks include that class.

CodesInChaos• 4 years ago

Previous thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33405541

IKEA sues indie game developer over survival horror game set in furniture store

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