Ikea Partners With Xbox to Launch Gaming Furniture Line

Ikea partnered with Microsoft to reveal a new nine-piece gaming furniture and home accessories collection called Yxstaby at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, ahead of its scheduled retail and online release on October 1, 2026.

The collaboration celebrates the upcoming 25th anniversary of the original Xbox console. The lineup includes a rollable TV stand, side table, lounge chair, laptop stand, cushion, metallic trinket dish, display box, and a centerpiece stool designed after an Xbox thumbstick.

Design teams from both companies initiated the project following a meeting at Milan Design Week in 2024. The products aim to integrate gaming equipment smoothly into home decor using neutral Scandi-style colors alongside classic Xbox green accents.

Philip Dilé, product design developer at Ikea, stated that the partnership aimed to create items tailored specifically for modern gaming environments inside the home.

"That was a bit of an icebreaker," Dilé tells WIRED. "We were exploring gaming, so we wanted to team up with experts who really understand how people play. We know a lot about life at home, but we wanted to specifically understand how you design for gamers."

Dilé highlighted that modern gaming habits require home spaces to adapt to relaxation alongside active play.

"How people play at home has shifted, and it is as much about relaxing and connecting with others as it is about performing, which changes what the space has to do," said Ikea product design developer, Philip Dilé. "Together, we set out to make furniture people really want in their home, not furniture they accept because it is what you need to game."

The signature item of the line is a swiveling thumbstick stool built off the mechanics of Ikea's Nilserik stool and scaled using original 3D files from Xbox hardware designers.

Ikea designer David Wahl explained how he conceived the idea of transforming an input device into functional seating.

“I was exploring keyboard chairs, but then it hit me: What is it that you're actually using when you're playing? The input devices,” Wahl says. “You have buttons and the control stick—and the control stick is moving. And, hey, it looks like a stool. What if you could enlarge it and actually sit on it?”

Wahl noted that the design relies on an older product concept from the company's existing catalog.

“That's an Ikea classic, an old product, and I got inspired by the function of the Nilserik. What if we make something similar, but for gamers, and also update the design? That was the starting point.”

Addressing the ergonomics of adapting a small plastic controller part for human seating required multiple material iterations and adjustments.

“The thumbstick is designed for maximum grip when you're controlling a game, but it's not really suitable to sit on. It's kind of aggressive and sharp,” Wahl says. “So the first task is to how to make this comfortable, and how to keep the same iconic shape. You have to see that this is a thumbstick, but you're sitting on it.”

Wahl incorporated hidden references within the hardware, drawing parallels to traditional Xbox manufacturing Easter eggs.

“To gamify the collection, I like to hide elements of surprise in my products," Wahl says. "Xboxes hide ‘Hello from Seattle’ written somewhere on the console. We hid a similar message that you only see once when you assemble a stool, ‘Hej from Älmhult.’”

Reflecting on his personal connection to the gaming console, Wahl described adapting the control stick's movement for ergonomic sitting.

“I queued all night 25 years ago to get my hands on the first Xbox console, so those shapes are nostalgic to me,” says Ikea designer David Wahl. “The challenge was making it work as a stool, with the right seating curve and stability, while still feeling like a thumbstick. It even moves the way a thumbstick does, so it tilts with you while you play.”

Xbox design executives supported the stool concept immediately during early review sessions in development.

“It was totally immediate,” Ledbetter confirms. “It was hands down, ‘We just have to do it.’ And then it became not a question of if we should do it—how do we do it in a compelling way? What's the right scale?

What are the ergonomics? Can it move and swivel around?”

Carl Ledbetter, head of Xbox devices design, emphasized the comfort level achieved in the final build.

“Oh my, this is very comfortable," he says. “It feels good, and it can accommodate multiple playing postures. I can't tell you how many people are like, ‘I gotta have that thumbstick stool.’ It's just a delighter.”

Pricing details and exact market availability dates will vary by region upon the collection's rollout in October.