IKEA’s new Xbox furniture collection is wonderfully weird

You might now be looking at Xbox, sitting on Xbox stuff, playing with Xbox, and decorating your home with Xbox stuff.

Just don’t sit on the Xbox console yet.

IKEA and Xbox have teamed up on a new nine-piece gaming collection called YXSTABY, and the Xbox controller is clearly the star of the show. The collection turns familiar controller elements into furniture and accessories designed to fit into everyday living spaces. It officially launched in IKEA stores on October 1, with online availability coming later this year. Availability varies by market.

And yes, the collection includes a stool inspired by an Xbox thumbstick.

That Thumbstick stool is literally hilarious.

The Xbox thumbstick is now a stool

The most entertaining piece in the YXSTABY collection is also the one that requires the biggest mental adjustment: a stool inspired by the thumbstick on an Xbox Wireless Controller.

IKEA and Xbox developed the stool using the original 3D design files for the controller, provided by Xbox device designers. Even the textured grip on the original thumbstick has been given a new purpose, helping keep the person sitting on the stool in place.

The stool also moves like a thumbstick, tilting as you move.

So, technically, you can now sit on something that was originally designed to be moved by your thumb.

That’s the kind of ridiculous product idea that makes a collaboration like this fun.

IKEA designer David Wahl says the challenge was making the thumbstick shape work as a stable, comfortable stool while keeping its recognizable form.

And somehow, it works.

IKEA turned the Xbox controller into home furniture

The thumbstick stool isn’t the only piece based on the Xbox controller.

The D-pad has been transformed into both a cushion and a stainless-steel decorative platter. There’s also a mirrored display box designed to showcase an Xbox controller alongside figurines and other collectibles.

The rest of the YXSTABY collection is more practical.

It includes a gaming lounge chair, a monitor stand, a TV stand on castors, a side table on castors, and a laptop support with storage and accessories.

The TV stand is particularly interesting because it can be rolled to wherever you’re gaming and includes storage for gaming equipment. The side table can also be moved around and provides space for controllers and charging.

The monitor stand is designed to raise one or two screens to a comfortable height while providing storage underneath, along with holders for a phone, headphones and a controller.

In other words, IKEA isn’t just putting Xbox logos on ordinary furniture.

It’s taking recognizable parts of the Xbox controller and asking what happens when those shapes become actual household objects.

The collection is designed for gaming outside a gaming room

That’s the bigger idea behind YXSTABY.

IKEA and Xbox say the collection was designed around how people actually game at home, where gaming can happen in living rooms, at dining tables and alongside other everyday activities rather than exclusively inside a dedicated gaming room.

The two companies had a designer from each team working together on every piece. IKEA says the designers also visited homes where gaming is part of everyday life while developing the collection.

That explains why much of the collection looks more like conventional IKEA furniture than stereotypical gaming gear.

The pieces use muted white, black and beige tones, with green appearing on details such as pockets, slings and compartments designed to hold gaming equipment.

The goal is essentially to make gaming furniture that doesn’t make the rest of your home look like you’ve converted it into an esports arena.

Here are the nine pieces in IKEA’s Xbox collection

The YXSTABY collection includes nine pieces:

Together, they cover seating, display, storage, desk setups and accessories while keeping the Xbox controller as the central design inspiration.

Xbox has escaped the controller

There’s something wonderfully strange about this collaboration.

The Xbox controller starts in your hands, becomes a design language, and then suddenly parts of it are sitting in your living room.

The D-pad is a cushion.

The D-pad is also a platter.

The controller can go inside a display box.

The thumbstick has become a stool.

So yes, you might now be looking at Xbox, sitting on Xbox stuff, playing with Xbox and decorating with Xbox stuff.

Just don’t sit on the Xbox console yet.

Give IKEA and Xbox another collaboration or two, though, and I wouldn’t rule anything out.

The YXSTABY collection is available in IKEA stores from October 1, while online availability is coming later this year. IKEA and Xbox note that availability varies by market.