Ikea unveiled the Yxstaby gaming range with Xbox at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, putting a nine-piece collection in front of gamers who want their gear to disappear into the room instead of taking it over. The line is built around storage, charging and concealment, but the piece drawing the most attention is a thumbstick stool that started life as something closer to controller hardware than furniture.
The reveal gives the collaboration a public finish after Ikea and Xbox design teams first met at Milan Design Week in 2024. For Ikea product design developer Philip Dilé, the first move was to show the Xbox team the Brännboll gaming collection, a bit of an icebreaker that set the tone for what came next. The new range keeps that same idea alive: furniture that belongs in a living room even when it is built for play.
The collection reaches across the gaming setup without looking like a showroom built for one. There is a side table on wheels that stores controllers behind sliding doors while they charge, a toolbox that keeps cables and hardware under a lid that also works as a laptop stand, a gaming lounge chair with a webbed pocket underneath for controllers, and a rollable TV stand for sets of up to 55 inches with a split-level shelf for consoles. There is also a green gaming D-pad cushion, a reminder that Ikea and Xbox are not only trying to solve storage problems but to make the whole setup feel less technical.
That is where the oddest piece becomes the most revealing one. The D-pad controller platter was originally designed as a stool, and Johan Ejdemo said he removed the base before deciding it would make a fine plate or tray. David Wahl said he queued all night 25 years ago to get his hands on the very first Xbox, then persuaded the Xbox designers to hand over the controller's original 3D design files. He said he began by thinking about keyboard chairs, then realized the real object was the input devices in a player’s hands. The thumbstick, he said, already looked like a stool if it were enlarged.
That idea was not abstract. Ikea had already made the Nilserik, an extending office stool with a rounded base, and Wahl said it inspired the thumbstick stool. An early prototype was immediately liked by the Xbox team at a workshop. That matters because it shows where the Yxstaby line is headed: not toward themed merchandise, but toward gaming pieces that can survive in the middle of ordinary home life. What Ikea has not said yet is when the collection goes on sale or what any of it will cost, leaving the reveal complete but the buying part still waiting.
