Video Games

IKEA Sends Cease and Desist to Indie Dev Making Furniture Store Survival Game

IKEA has sent a cease and desist letter to the developers of The Store is Closed, an indie survival game in which you spend the night in a furniture store.

As reported by KotakuAttorneys representing IKEA accused individual developer Jacob Shaw of committing trademark infringement and gave him 10 days to change parts of his game that allegedly represent the IKEA brand. I got

This includes a blue and yellow sign, a Nordic name (STYR), a yellow vertical striped shirt, gray paths on the floor, and some furniture. “All of the foregoing immediately suggests that the game is being played in an IKEA store,” the attorney’s letter said.

There is no mention of Ikea in The Store is Closed vapor Also kick starter However, Shaw claims he wasn’t inspired by Ikea for the game’s furniture, as he purchased a generic furniture asset pack that can be used in any game. The IKEA lawyer has also cited his commentators in the press and online to compare his game to IKEA.

The letter continued, “Unauthorized use of IKEA marks constitutes unfair competition and false advertising under Section 43(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 US C § 1125(a), and state unfair competition and false advertising laws. Configure.

“Of course, it’s easy to make a video game set in a furniture store that doesn’t look or suggest like an IKEA store. We can easily modify the game to avoid these issues. Especially when we plan to release Especially if there are no games until 2024.”

closed. Credits: Ziggy.

Shaw indicates he plans to make changes to The Store is Closed, but is seeking legal advice. “I was going to spend his last week on Kickstarter preparing updates for all the new alpha his testers,” Shaw told Kotaku. “But now we desperately need to revamp the look of the whole game to avoid being sued.”

Shaw is just one developer, but entertainment proves that any company, no matter how big, can be sued for copyright infringement. Cheat website AimJunkies is being sued by Bungie for implementing cheats in Destiny 2, while Paramount is being sued for ownership (or lack of ownership) of Top Gun: Maverick. .

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He talks about witchers all day long.

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