IKEA has announced that its Asus ROG co-branded range of furniture and accessories for gamers will be made available globally starting from October. The iconic Scandinavian furniture brand announced this collaborative project a year ago, but the products have already rolled out into its branches in China, since February. Perhaps the China market has been used as a testbed, making sure the collaborative products are up to expected quality and durability standards ahead of wider rollout – it is highly likely that a lot of the products are sourced from Chinese factories.
In a press release about the global rollout, IKEA cites the growing throng of gamer folk (2.5bn worldwide), its own history of creating smart home furnishing solutions, and the pedigree and expertise of the Asus ROG brand. It says that the new collaborative products combine the best of both brands, to present customers with "relevant, functional, beautiful and affordable products and complete gaming solutions."
So, what will you actually be able to buy with the IKEA & Asus ROG branding? IKEA says there will be more than 30 products in the gaming range when it is launched globally. Since the US pages that I checked for seem to not be available as yet, you can look back at our previous article on the IKEA Asus ROG China launch, or visit the IKEA China 'Gaming Home' section (turn on a web translator if you need it).
What you will find are products covering "both furniture – gaming desks and chairs, a drawer unit – and accessories – a mug holder, a mouse bungee, a neck pillow, a ring light and many more," at various price targets/ranges. These furnishings and accessories will fall into six distinct product families have been created exclusively for PC gamers; Uppspel, Lånespelare, Matchspel, Gruppspel, Utespelare, Huvudspelare. As a reminder, the China store gaming product pricing ranged widely - with desks between the equivalent of £450 and £70, to accessories like the cup holder which was 'just' £5.50.
