Honestly, the store in the kickstarter footage does not even look like an IKEA to me - the floors in the game are much more open and less claustrophobic than an actual IKEA.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ziggygamedev/the-store-...
Don't mess with the IKEA brand, even in good faith, unless you either have deep pockets, therefore very good lawyers, or are very popular and can count on a lot followers on your side.
Anyone remembers about ikeahackers.net? IKEA initially shut it off on bogus trademark violation claims, then backed off only after public outcry.
https://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Site-that-broug...
I feel like this should be relatively fair-use under the guise of parody, right? Though I imagine the dev doesn't feel like going to court over it.
Made me think of the game "Escape from Tarkov", which has been out for years and has a subset of a mall-setting map called "IDEA" using the same blue/yellow color pallette (1).
[1] https://escapefromtarkov.fandom.com/wiki/IDEA_cash_register_...
Oh this wouldn't hold a hope of winning a copyright lawsuit. They are just hoping to bully the indie developer with their corporate lawyer team. Parodies are protected.
threads last week, 16,13 and 7 comments:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33424587
Kind of reminds me of the book Horrorstor.
Seems the case the developers were inspired by SCP-3008 - https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-3008
IKEA's actions concern me a little. The sub-genre of Urban Fantasy will call in lots of real world elements and then blend in something supernatural. This might have chilling effects for certain kinds of story telling.
I'll skip the legal analysis and state with confidence that this game is morally in the right and Ikea and the systems supporting their claim are morally in the wrong.
So long as the game does not claim to be sponsored, supported or be acting in the name of Ikea, it should be allowed to do what it wants.
Also, Streisand Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
Here is some footage of the gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPT6GlMWEjU
I want to buy this game now. Like when the city of Montreal complained because a Counter Strike map looked too much like their train station. Whenever corporations or governments say something is bad I tend to suspect the opposite.
This may sound weird, but if the public "experiences" something it seems like it should be partially owned by the public. For example, certain Far Side cartoons feel like they partially belong to me because they are ingrained in my web of thinking and experiences. Not saying I should be able to sell them, but we need to maintain fair use.
I get the feeling they don't like their dystopian hell holes compared to dystopian hell holes.
Is this not like the look and feel lawsuits over user interface from the initial fights over WIMP interfaces and later about slide to unlock, black rectangles and multitouch? Weren't they ultimately found not to be protectable?
I actually have been a little excited for this game, its goofy but looks fun with friends and its a fun spin on a place I visit every few months or so. The uniform definitely screams Ikea and the outside of the building. Shame I think its a really cool concept and doesnt ruin Ikea for me if it went live as-is.
I saw some info about the latest Call of Duty game having to remove some maps from its multi-player mode because they resemble actual in life buildings like a hotel.
Video games are artwork, playable artwork, but still I thought art was protected in a way. How will VR worlds that resemble real structures be treated?
They're going to lose more brand from doing this than they would have going along with the joke. I bet good money this would have subconsciously primed a lot of the people who play it to shop at Ikea. Now it won't. Wasted opportunity.
They should do the same to the studio that released The Human Centipede. Those drawings that the German doctor made on his whiteboard look a lot like Ikea's, from their instruction booklets.
If IKEA wants to care so much, they should partner with the game developers and actually put IKEA in the game, hell yeah I would buy a couch from them then
There is also the option of passive-agressive compliance:
step 1: Change the textures and make it possible for users to add their custom texture packs. (yea, it's more work but may help to build community)
step 2: Oh no some anonymous users have created texture packs with IKEA colors and sharing it with each other. They could go after the users but good luck going after all the file-sharing options.
I hope the game involves NPCs with the store's logo burned into their flesh.
When asked about it, they'll explain it's just corporate branding.
This game appears to be extremely similar to an existing Roblox game: https://www.roblox.com/games/2768379856/3008-2-71
This Roblox version doesn't have weapons, but it's pretty fun, actually. Ask your kids -- they probably played it.
i only skimmed the article but this is clearly based on the SCP story—-which does take place in an ikea.
From rough memory, IKEA has had apps or partnerships to enable consumers to build 3D models of their place with IKEA furniture. Those 3D models might be widely available as a result, which provides a fairly quick boost to any indie developer trying to build a game.
Just checked, "Styr" (name of the shop in the game) is not a rot13 or any variation (different offset or reverse order) thereof of "Ikea".
I don’t get it. IKEA is much scarier than that game!
The game doesn't do the setting justice, IKEA seems like a great horror setting otherwise. Many places and diagrams to hide in.
Fuck ikea
LOL.
There is nothing special about Ikea furniture. its generic slop made of compressed wood like the stuff you find in office furniture at your local bank.
Couldn't the dev lean in and claim it's a parody? Instead of making it LESS like Ikea, use Ikea brands directly. I'm pretty sure parody law permits this.
Disclaimer: I am not, nor will ever be, a lawyer
Dumb as hell, especially when Halloween was the other week.
If anything should have been working with them on an official version of it using real Ikea 3D models. Like make it even more accurate if anything.
Marketing wise would have been crazy good.
In 2014 IKEA backtracks on legal take down of fan site for furniture hackers :
https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/19/ikea-backs-down-in-legal-k...
They should ride it out. Great publicity. You can't buy this kind of marketing.
Hi IKEA! I'm introducing you the Streisand Effect.
Ikea should be honored to be chosen it will boost sales.
I cannot do a horror movie that passes in a public place of sales?
Please this should be thrown out in a second in court and damages paid to the author for his sufferings and worrying
This article has been copied a bit, my take here is:
1. Ikea sent a C&D to a small indie developer alleging trademark infringement or trademark dilution (NOT copyright). Seems like this has been lost a bit, and most articles are reporting on other articles.
2. If go to the Kickstarter page, the Ikea branding features prominently in the promotional materials for the game. It LOOKS like blatant trademark infringement or dilution to me. It’s not like you fire up the game and find out that it’s set in an Ikea. The game is marketed as a game set in Ikea, except for the term “Ikea” itself, which is scrubbed out.
3. I can’t see any parody angle here. It seems like it’s a horror game which is supposed to be set in an Ikea, but it’s not making any kind of commentary on Ikea. Like, how is this supposed to be some kind of protected speech? As far as I can tell, it’s “What if you were trapped inside an Ikea, and there were monsters?”
People seem to like it for the David vs. Goliath angle. However, nothing about this needs to be set in Ikea. Just like how SCP-173 didn’t need to use that particular artwork. If you think it was right for SCP-173 to change artwork, but it’s wrong for this SCP-derived game to change the branding for its setting… why?
Edit: For context:
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-14469202/announcement-r...
> However, as authors (and staff) didn't know much about licensing originally (nor did SCP have the significance at the time for it to be as big of a deal), they would often grab images from the Internet at random, including images that their creators would not allow the use of.
> […]
> Izumi Kato has extremely graciously allowed us to use Untitled 2004 on our site, on the condition that Untitled 2004's itself or its likeness would not be used for commercial purposes. Nonetheless, we cannot indefinitely keep the image on SCP-173's page, especially since it has become increasingly difficult for us to prevent Untitled 2004's likeness from being used for commercial purposes by others as SCP grows.
> Licensing aside, Untitled 2004's usage on the Wiki is also an ethical issue. Izumi Kato did not intend nor ask for his art to be used as an SCP, and the meaning and purpose of Untitled 2004 has been, in some ways, permanently tainted by its use in the article. Kato kindly and retroactively allowed its use for SCP-173 in 2014 on condition, but it was clear he was not happy with the situation. Additionally, his art's been exploited by third parties trying to profit off of SCP, which has likely caused him much distress.
> As such, we believe the most correct course of action in this situation is to remove Untitled 2004 from SCP-173. Although this process has been delayed significantly, the longer we wait, the more harm is done to Izumi Kato's creative vision and the risk of legal issues becomes greater.
Could've been handled better
From the Kotaku article this article is a (bad) rewrite of:
https://kotaku.com/ikea-furniture-horror-game-store-is-close...
Updated: 10/31/22, 12.00a.m. ET: Ikea UK got back to us this morning, providing the following statement:
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.