If you’re a gamer with a design bug, IKEA thinks you’ll love it’s new collection of “gaming furniture,” due in stores in September 2024.
The furniture giant says that its 20-piece Brännboll collection “challenges traditional gaming design” and should more peacefully co-exist in aesthetic harmony within your home than, say, a Secretlab gaming chair.
The best gaming monitor for upgrading your visuals
But the collection seems more like a brilliant marketing ploy than a genuine attempt to meet gamers where they are. Much of Brännboll looks like regular old IKEA furniture, accessorized with an Asus ROG Ally console or a Meta Quest 2 VR headset. The gaming market is currently estimated to be worth about $282 billion in the US alone and IKEA’s only previous foray into the industry was a small line of black and red gaming furniture in 2021.
A tall standing cabinet harbors a hidden fold-down tabletop with storage for a PC and monitor.
Credit: IKEA
A rolling castor stores gaming tech and accessories.
Credit: IKEA
Some pieces do actually make sense for gamers, like a tall standing cabinet that opens to reveal a fold-down tabletop with storage for a PC and monitor (also a handy piece for folks working at home). A second item, a green desk chair, resembles the design of the kind of traditional gaming chairs IKEA claims to be moving away from. A third piece, the “easy chair,” is described as providing a new “dynamic component of the virtual gaming experience” by “engag[ing] the gamer physically, swinging from side to side in harmony with their movement.”
The best gaming headset for every platform
The core of Brännboll is the easy chair and several low-to-the-ground seats, including an inflatable donut-shaped concoction that is so light it can be hung from a hook on the wall. A mouse pad, rug, and throw and storage solutions like a wall-mounted cabinet, wheeled castor, and a multifunctional basket round out the collection.