IKEA has followed up on the teasers it started making recently by unveiling a big collaboration with Xbox, confirming nine different new pieces of homeware that it'll be selling from 1 October this year. The range is called YXSTABY, in typical IKEA fashion.
The range includes some really out-there stuff, not least in the form of a joystick-themed stool, along with various other more functional stuff that should make it easier to game without needing to set up your entire living space around the idea.
That said, this is obviously going to be a way to fly the Xbox flag, at a time when the gaming brand is under immense strain after a string of strategic failures and a simply massive wave of layoffs at its studios.
This collection might lighten the mood a little bit, at least for those unburdened by the above stresses. Throughout the new announcements, the Xbox controller was apparently the main inspiration – in some cases for its design, and in others to accommodate its storage or use while gaming.
I think the three highlights of the collection are the YXSTABY gaming thumbstick stool (the one that looks like a joystick), which is kitsch and fun; the YXSTABY gaming D-pad cushion, which looks impressively comfortable and useful; and the YXSTABY gaming D-pad platter.
That last one is modelled on the D-pad from the Xbox Elite Controller, which has a dish-like pad. It's shiny and metallic and fits the bill of "you wouldn't know this was an Xbox collab without if you weren't told".
The range also includes a gaming lounge chair with some canny hidden storage pouches for controllers underneath it; an attractive and minimalist gaming TV stand on castors; a gaming side table on castors for additional utility; a gaming controller display box, for those who want to wear their affinity proudly; a gaming laptop support with storage that's also impressively disguised as a toolbox; and finally a gaming monitor stand.
All are obviously very reasonably priced, with only one breaking the £100 mark and most loitering well below that level – you can check out all the pricing in full below, and get whatever you like from the range online or in-store from 1 October.
- YXSTABY gaming lounge chair - £89
- YXSTABY gaming thumbstick stool - £35
- YXSTABY gaming TV stand on castors - £99
- YXSTABY gaming side table on castors - £115
- YXSTABY gaming controller display box- £15
- YXSTABY gaming laptop support with storage - £19
- YXSTABY gaming monitor stand - £25
- YXSTABY gaming D-pad cushion- £12
- YXSTABY gaming D-pad platter - £12
