Horror games have taken inspiration from everyday life for quite a few years now, but that might lead to some unexpected complications for indie developers. Furniture giant Ikea has demanded that the developer of the promising horror game The Store Is Closed remove all references to its stores.
What’s surprising about this move is that The Store Is Closed isn’t even available for sale yet. Its successful Kickstarter campaign has just a few days to go, collecting nearly $66,000 so far against a goal of $11,507. The game’s Kickstarter page describes it as an SCP-inspired horror game set in an infinite furniture store with crafting and building mechanics.
The legal letter accuses solo developer Jacob Shaw of using “indicia associated with the famous Ikea stores.” These aspects include a blue-and-yellow sign with a “Scandinavian name,” a blue box-like building, furniture that looks like Ikea furniture, and a gray path on the floor. Shaw told Kotaku that he disputes this characterization, noting that some of these charges are quite vague.
The letter gives Shaw ten working days to remove these “indicia” from the game. Shaw said that he’s had to shift away from alpha testing to focus on addressing these changes. The Store Is Closed is one of many, many SCP and “backrooms”-inspired horror games out in the world. We featured another Ikea-themed game in our Roblox horror roundup. Both games appear to be inspired by the creepypasta SCP-3008, which is explicitly described as taking the form of an Ikea.
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