Gaming setups are getting increasingly difficult to separate from the rest of the home, and Xbox and IKEA are taking that idea to an unusual new level.
The two companies have teamed up on YXSTABY, a new nine-piece furniture and accessories collection inspired by Xbox gaming. Instead of simply putting Xbox branding on existing IKEA furniture, the collaboration takes familiar elements from an Xbox controller and turns them into functional household objects.
The strangest example is also arguably the most memorable: a thumbstick-inspired stool that turns the familiar shape of a controller joystick into something you can actually sit on.
Xbox’s Thumbstick Becomes an IKEA Stool
The centerpiece of the collection is the YXSTABY thumbstick stool.
The concept was developed using the original 3D design files for the Xbox controller, with IKEA working directly with Xbox device designers. The familiar thumbstick shape was reinterpreted as a piece of furniture, while its textured surface serves a practical purpose by helping the person sitting on it remain in place.
It’s a ridiculous idea at first glance, but it also demonstrates what makes the collaboration different from a typical gaming merchandise collection.
Instead of simply printing an Xbox logo on a chair or table, the designers actually used the physical language of the controller as inspiration for the furniture itself.
There’s Also a Giant D-Pad Cushion
The Xbox controller’s D-pad gets its own furniture-inspired treatment.
IKEA has created a D-pad-shaped cushion that can work as a comfortable accessory for a gaming space while also functioning as a decorative object. The collection also includes a shiny stainless-steel D-pad-inspired platter.
That means the collection isn’t entirely focused on making your gaming room look like a giant Xbox showroom.
Instead, IKEA is trying to make gaming references blend into ordinary living spaces.
That approach is particularly noticeable across the rest of the YXSTABY range.
The Collection Goes Beyond Novelty Items
Alongside the thumbstick stool and D-pad products, the collection includes more conventional furniture designed around the needs of gamers.
The nine-piece lineup includes a TV stand, laptop stand, side table, lounge chair and multifunctional toolbox, among other pieces.
Some of these products are designed to solve practical problems that gamers actually have.
The furniture provides places to store controllers, accessories and other gaming equipment while attempting to avoid the stereotypical gaming-room aesthetic dominated by black furniture, RGB lighting and aggressive designs.
That’s a direction IKEA has already explored through its gaming furniture, but the Xbox partnership gives the idea a much stronger identity.
A Controller Becomes the Design Language
The most interesting part of the YXSTABY collection isn’t necessarily any individual product.
It’s the way Xbox controller elements become a design language.
The controller’s recognizable shapes and textures appear throughout the collection, sometimes obviously and sometimes more subtly.
The thumbstick becomes a stool.
The D-pad becomes a cushion and decorative platter.
A controller can also be displayed inside a mirrored display box alongside collectibles, turning something normally used during gameplay into a piece of home decoration.
That approach makes the collection feel more like a design experiment than straightforward Xbox merchandise.
IKEA Wants Gaming Furniture to Fit Into the Home
The collaboration also reflects a broader change in how gaming spaces are designed.
Traditional gaming furniture often makes it extremely obvious that the room belongs to a gamer.
IKEA is taking a different approach.
The YXSTABY collection uses relatively neutral furniture forms with Xbox-inspired details and flashes of the brand’s recognizable green. The goal is to create products that can coexist with normal home furniture instead of forcing the entire room to look like a gaming setup.
That could make the collection more appealing to people who game regularly but don’t want a dedicated gaming room filled with branded equipment.
When Will the IKEA Xbox Collection Be Available?
IKEA says the YXSTABY collection will begin rolling out in stores and online from October 1, 2026, although availability and pricing can vary by region.
Individual products have already attracted attention because some of the more unusual pieces are relatively accessible in price. For example, reports from the UK list the thumbstick stool at around £35 and the D-pad cushion at around £12.
Regional pricing and availability should therefore be checked through the local IKEA store before assuming those prices apply everywhere.
Xbox and IKEA’s Collaboration Is Weird — But It Makes Sense
At first, an Xbox and IKEA furniture collaboration sounds like the sort of announcement designed purely to generate social-media reactions.
And the thumbstick stool certainly does that.
But there’s more to the idea than novelty.
Gaming has increasingly become a normal part of everyday home life. People don’t necessarily have separate gaming rooms anymore. Consoles sit underneath televisions, laptops are used on sofas and gaming accessories have to share space with everything else in the house.
That makes IKEA a surprisingly logical partner for Xbox.
Instead of asking gamers to build an entirely separate gaming environment, the YXSTABY collection attempts to integrate gaming into ordinary furniture.
Whether the thumbstick stool becomes a genuine furniture hit or simply becomes one of those strange gaming products people remember years later is another question.
Either way, it’s considerably more interesting than another branded controller stand.
Final Thoughts
The Xbox and IKEA YXSTABY collection is one of the stranger gaming collaborations announced this year, but it isn’t simply a collection of Xbox-branded furniture.
The collaboration takes recognizable elements from the Xbox controller and transforms them into functional objects, with the thumbstick stool serving as the obvious centerpiece.
With nine pieces ranging from practical storage furniture to D-pad-inspired accessories, YXSTABY is essentially IKEA’s attempt to make gaming furniture feel like part of a normal home.
And yes, if you’ve ever looked at an Xbox controller and thought, “That would make a surprisingly good stool,” IKEA has apparently beaten you to it.
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