IKEA debuts new furniture line for gamers
(KYMA, KECY/CNN) - In an ideal world, we’d always keep a hand free to protect our precious gaming gear. But for those times when you’re busy, Ikea has released a ¥129.00 (around $20) wooden hand to act as a caretaker — one of dozens of new gaming products just launched in China. As Ikea explains it, the Lånespelare accessories stand (or the Gaming Hand, as we’ll be calling it) “takes care of cables, headsets and other gadgets that you want tidied away, yet still have within reach.” Sounds, uh, handy?
Ikea’s Gaming Hand is part of the company’s recently announced lineup of gaming furniture and accessories, which it says was developed in collaboration with Asus’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand. There are over 30 products in the range, which include everything from gaming chairs and desks, to mouse mats and a ring light.
The lineup is organized across six product families: Huvudspelare, Utespelare, Matchspel, Gruppspel, Uppspel, and Lånespelare. The Huvudspelare family includes a ¥299.00 (around $46) gaming chair and ¥219.00 (around $34) gaming desk. Utespelare and Matchspel both also include gaming chairs, but they’re more expensive at ¥699.00 (around $108) and ¥999.00 (around $155) respectively. Meanwhile Uppspel is the product family you want if you’re after a ¥198.00 (around $31) gaming pegboard for organizing all your gaming gear, or a ¥599.00 (around $93) gaming drawer unit.
Finally there’s Lånespelare, which includes a variety of accessories like a ¥249.00 (around $39) ring light, and ¥99.00 (around $15) mouse bungee, and even a mug-holder that attaches to the side of your desk. And who could forget this charming “multi-functional cushion/blanket” which Ikea says offers everything from “lumbar support” to “a blanket over your shoulders.”
The nice thing about the new lineup isn’t just the traditional Ikea affordable pricing, it’s that everything is free from the loud branding and RGB lighting that often accompanies “gamer” accessories and furniture. Ikea’s global business leader of workspace, Ewa Rychert, says that’s part of the point of the new lineup.
”The needs of billions of gamers around the globe are very diverse, whereas the existing offer is rather technical and often perceived as masculine design-wise, despite around 46 percent of gamers being female,” Rychert says.
Ikea’s new gaming lineup is available in China now. It’ll launch in Japan in May, and come to the rest of the world in October.
