IKEA Moves Into Accessible Gaming Products

The gaming and esports market are expanding rapidly. As more and more advertising dollars get poured into esports, the popularity of the market has exponentially increased, resulting in literally hundreds of millions of dollars in sales in the gaming space. And along with the increase in popularity and sales comes the need for this space to consider accommodating consumers from all aspects of life—including those who may need a hand with their own gaming experience. The latest example of a company addressing accessibility in this space comes from a rather unlikely source: IKEA.

In a press release published this week, the furniture brand, which has started to dabble a little bit in the consumer tech space, announced a new partnership that will bring to market a line of accessible gaming furniture. IKEA has been working closely with UNYQ and Area Academy for about a year, and are now ready to introduce the first prototypes ion their UPPKOPPLA series.

“It’s true that we haven’t seen the full potential of this group earlier and we haven’t looked into their specific needs at home as much as we should,” Michael Nikolic, creative leader at IKEA of Sweden, said in the statement. “There are many myths and misunderstandings surrounding gamers. In fact, it is a large group of people in all ages where gaming is even a full-time job for some.”