It's surprising that more real-world furniture retailers and designers aren't involved with virtual worlds and games. After all, if people are buying virtual furniture in these worlds, isn't there an opportunity for the retailers to get involved? And so it's proved, with a deal between IKEA and Electronic Arts for The Sims 2.
It’ll involve a selection of IKEA products being sold to players of The Sims 2, including furniture, shelves and wall art. The deal covers North America, Europe and Asia, and represents a useful branding exercise for IKEA in those regions where it wants to build a reputation for its stores.
Will players buy a dedicated IKEA expansion package for The Sims 2 though? This kind of content is made for digital download, you’d think. Perhaps IKEA will expand this policy to more traditional virtual worlds - you’d think that Habbo would be an obvious place to start…
(via Reuters)
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