Andrew Heinzman
You can’t be a hardcore gamer without looking a little dorky. That’s because the best gaming accessories give off a TRON or Speed Racer vibe, with cartoonish designs, RGB lighting, and plenty of logos. Now, Ikea is teaming up with ASUS ROG to launch a line of minimalist, slightly-less-dorky gamer gear at a price anyone can afford.
In total, Ikea’s new gaming range includes over 30 products. Chairs and desks are the main attraction, but smaller accessories, like a mug holder and headphone stand (shaped like a wooden hand) make up the bulk of Ikea’s gaming catalog.
The lineup is split into six product categories: HUVUDSPELARE, UTESPELARE, MATCHSPEL, GRUPPSPEL, UPPSPEL, and LÅNESPELARE. The HUVUDSPELARE family includes a desk, gamer chair, and neck pillow, all for under $50. UTESPELARE and MATCHSPEL include Ikea’s “premium” gamer furniture, with chairs and desks in the $150+ range. And then there’s the UPPSPEL and LÅNESPELARE families, which include accessories, pegboards, drawers, posters, and other items that you shouldn’t sit on.
In a new press release, Ikea’s Ewa Rychert (Global Business Leader of Workspace) acknowledges that most gaming accessories are “rather technical” and “perceived as masculine design-wise.” Ikea is intentionally aiming at a wider demographic with its minimalist gaming accessories, which stick to simple color schemes and straddle the line between traditional and “gamer” design language.
Ikea’s gaming accessories are available in China now. The company says that its gaming lineup will launch in Japan in May and reach the rest of the world by October.
