A lonely man has to face a very big drag
Yeah, we’re also talking about The Store is Closed.
It looks like our classic subtitle in which we describe what happens in the game we are dealing with. A classic story in which our hero, who lacks resources, faces an opponent far more powerful than him. But this time, the story is true and is taking place right now.
The Store is Closed is a first-person survival horror game that can be played solo or in online CO-OP mode, but if you want to know more about, you can read our article.
The Kickstarter campaign ended on November 4th at £78,328 ($87,776) which is an incredible result.
We were confident that this title would generate a lot of buzz, but we didn’t expect it to happen in this way, especially before it was even released.
It’s been in the news for a while, but we’d like to discuss it again because we believe Jacob Shaw (Ziggy), the game’s sole author, has taken a harsh and undeserved blow.
Because the information available about the case is perfectly and in detail reported by Kotaku, I will refer to it in part.
WHAT HAPPENED
About a week ago, we learned that the IKEA company was, as it were, slightly annoyed at the idea of risking a combination with the Ziggy game. Well, no one has ever explicitly said, or even denied, that there were certain references, more or less obvious.
Ikea has thus sent a cease and desist letter to Jacob Shaw, ordering him to change the aesthetics of some elements of the game, such as a blue and yellow sign with a Scandinavian name on the store, a blue box-like building, yellow vertical stiped shirts identical to those worn by IKEA personnel, a gray path on the floor, furniture that looks like IKEA furniture, and product signage that looks like IKEA signage. All the foregoing immediately suggest that the game takes place in an IKEA store.
They gave him ten days, and they’re big and maybe even bad, who knows.
It is true that those who spoke about the game must make this association very clear (me culpa etiam), because Mr. Shaw has never mentioned it.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN
Mr. Shaw has stated that he has no choice but to comply with the requests for the time being, which is completely understandable.
One person can create a video game and do it well, but it is difficult for him to compete with a giant like IKEA.
Personally, I’m inclined to side with Mr. Shaw, not only out of sympathy, but also because the problem would not have arisen if we hadn’t all written down the name of the company and associated it with the video game, and Jacob could have made better use of the artist’s concept of interpretative freedom.
Basically, I find it deeply unfair, but I’m glad that this controversy is generating a lot of attention. The Store is Closed will still be cool even if you replace some colors and make some insignificant changes to fully enjoy the gameplay experience.
I’d like to conclude by saying that we have requested an interview with Jacob and would be honored to speak with him. We are hoping for a positive response.
