Wait, there are two totally different video games about inflicting large-scale mayhem in a faux Ikea?

We realized final 12 months about The Retailer is Closed, a survival game that trapped gamers inside an “infinite furnishings retailer” that was fairly clearly an Ikea in all however identify—creator Jacob Shaw even referred to it as “an infinite Ikea game” on Reddit. The similarity was overt sufficient that Ikea threatened authorized motion, and so once we ran throughout Retail Royale on Steam—”a chaotic Battle Royale inside a furnishings retailer where all the pieces is a weapon”—our first thought was that The Retailer is Closed had rebranded, retooled, and are available again as a battle royale game. However no: In some way, there are actually two distinct, large-scale pretend-Ikea video games available on the market.

Retail Royale has been in early entry for a 12 months, and really bought some consideration from streamers together with xQc and JFJ not lengthy after it went stay. It has been fairly effectively obtained throughout that point, too, with greater than 3,600 person critiques on Steam giving it a “principally optimistic” general ranking. 

It sounds fairly simple as battle royales go: 16 gamers attempt to kill one another utilizing all the pieces at hand, from weapons to axes, rakes, and items of furnishings. Objects might be recycled, and the supplies left over used to craft new stuff. There are beauty objects to earn, the map is massive and has “distinct retailer sections,” and each free-for-all and duos modes are supported.

Nevertheless it’s the setting that makes Retail Royale most fascinating, as a result of it is much more overt in regards to the Ikea connection than The Retailer is Closed. This, in case there’s any doubt, is the very first screenshot on the Steam web page:

Ikea’s attorneys insisted that the builders of  The Retailer is Closed “make adjustments” to the game to minimize the Ikea connection, though it is not at the moment clear whether or not developer Ziggy intends to conform. The identical destiny may befall Retail Royale, however there may be an argument that each video games rely as protected parodies.

Based on SteamDB, Retail Royale really predates The Retailer is Closed very barely: Retail Royale’s Steam web page went stay on February 18, 2021, whereas The Retailer is Closed confirmed up a number of weeks later, on March 31 of the identical 12 months. It is an odd little bit of timing, however Ikea’s issues with real-world battles royale in its shops—which is to say, huge video games of hide-and-seek and different such tomfoolery—return years previous to that: In 2015, greater than 32,000 folks signed up on Fb to participate in huge video games of hide-and-seek in Ikea shops within the Netherlands. The corporate realized in regards to the plan and put the kibosh on it, though very similar to its method to The Retailer is Closed, it did so very gently, saying it was “comfortable that our prospects are playful” however “can now not assure the safety of those that are taking part in or our prospects and workers.”