Video games long ago stopped belonging only to the bedroom, the desk or a room specifically dedicated to gaming. It is played on the sofa, at the dining room table, in front of the television or with a portable device in practically any corner of the house. Ikea and Xbox have taken this transformation as a starting point for Yxstaby, a new collection of furniture and accessories that seeks to integrate the gaming universe into the decoration and dynamics of the home.

The collection, presented to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Xbox, is made up of nine pieces and will arrive in Ikea stores and online channel starting October 1, although prices and specific launch dates will vary depending on the market.

According to Ikea, more than 3 billion people play video games around the world. And a good part of this activity takes place in domestic spaces that are used simultaneously for working, studying, eating, resting or interacting.
Yxstaby aims to respond precisely to that coexistence. Instead of presenting gaming as an activity that requires its own environment, Ikea and Xbox have designed objects that can appear when a game begins, facilitate the game and then reintegrate into the everyday space.

The collection has been developed jointly by teams from both companies, with a designer from Ikea and another from Xbox working on each piece. The collaboration crosses Ikea’s more than 80 years of knowledge about domestic life with Xbox’s 25 years of video game experience.

The process also included specific visits to homes where video games are part of daily life. The intention was to understand the needs of those who play, but also those of the people with whom they share those spaces. From this arise questions that go beyond the traditional ergonomics of gaming furniture: how can a chair respond to different postures, where to store a controller when a game ends or how to make a space prepared for gaming quickly recover its usual function and appearance.

“The way people play at home has changed. It’s no longer just about competing, it’s also about relaxing and connecting with others. And that changes what we need from spaces”explains Philip Dilé, designer at Ikea in Sweden.
According to him, Xbox provides the knowledge about the needs of gamers and Ikea provides the experience to solve the small problems that appear when gaming enters domestic life. The shared objective has been to create “furniture that people really want to have in their home, not furniture that they simply accept because it is necessary for playing.”

In terms of aesthetic language, Yxstaby prevents all its pieces from openly proclaiming their status as gaming furniture. Straight lines and soft shapes are combined with muted whites, blacks and beiges to maintain a Scandinavian aesthetic, while the characteristic Xbox green appears occasionally in pockets, straps and compartments for gaming equipment.
Along with functional solutions, Yxstaby also explores the potential of the Xbox controller as a design icon. Its shapes appear reinterpreted in different objects in the collection, sometimes in an obvious way and other times in a much more discreet way. The control crosshead inspires both a cushion and a decorative stainless steel plate.

“At Xbox we think a lot about what helps players feel immersed in a game. The hardware is an important part, but so is the environment you create around it”says Carl Ledbetter, head of Xbox design. The collaboration with Ikea, he explains, has made it possible to work on “the entire gaming experience at home, from the screen to the space around it.”

The collection reflects an interesting evolution for both Ikea and Xbox. Instead of designing a room around the video game, Yxstaby assumes that the video game has to coexist with a house that already has other uses, inhabitants and objects.

That explains why some references to Xbox are more subtle. Green works as an accent and helps identify the elements intended to store devices, while much of the furniture maintains the usual Ikea design codes.
The collaboration thus responds to a broader transformation of gaming. Video games are a massive leisure activity, but also a practice that is increasingly integrated into domestic life and shared with other activities.