A new brand touches the beacon.
That’s right: IKEA is officially in Skyrim.
Or, well, not quite officially. IKEA didn’t partner directly with Skyrim developer Bethesda; instead it teamed up with a well-known modder studio.
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See, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out way back in 2011, and though it still receives occasional updates, Bethesda has made a business model of providing a somewhat baked game and expecting community modders to finish it off. Post-release, modders expand a game’s world (and often cater to players’ requests) by designing downloadable additions like extra gameplay mechanics, environment tweaks, cosmetic packs, weapons, and even original, full-fledged characters, companions, and quests.
This approach was perhaps most apparent in Bethesda’s 2023 flop Starfield, which at launch featured a world that was vast, empty, clearly unfinished, and apparently designed to be crutched by modders’ labor (a labor that comes at no cost to the studio, unlike pesky salaries for staff developers who need to, you know, eat).
Despite drawing player ire with this practice, Bethesda and its iconic titles like Fallout and Skyrim have attracted an enormous community of passionate modders, including small but mighty team Kinggath Creations.
And Kinggath is the creative force behind IKEA’s foothold in Tamriel.
As of this week, any hard-journeying Skyrim player can rid themself of the eternal pain that is being overencumbered. IKEA’s modpack includes Kallax Storageborn, a companion that can be summoned to your side and can contain all your items, from legendary swords to potions to a few hundred (OK, a few thousand) wheels of cheese.
What does Kallax Storageborn look like, you might ask. Surely he must be ripped, if he is to carry all my things across field and mountain. Surely he must be a gentleman of fine buff form.
Sorry, lads. He is shelves.
Kinggath took a model of IKEA’s white, eight-cubby Kallax bookshelf and simply stuck it in the game.
Don’t despair, though. While he isn’t a super hot dude visually–unless you have very unique taste–Mr. Storageborn is voiced by What We Do in the Shadows fan favorite Matt Berry, so his company is at least dulcet. (Berry also voices Mr. Handy units in Amazon‘s Fallout TV show, meaning he’s already in the Bethesda loop.)
On top of being insta-summonable (with custom Dragon Shout AYE-KEY-YAH) and solving one of gaming’s most annoying problems by limitlessly holding all your stuff, Mr. Storageborn is complemented by two new IKEA-themed dungeons, an IKEA boss fight, an Allen key-shaped weapon for players to use, a Meatball Helmet for them to wear, and meatball consumables for them to stuff in their gob–all made by Kinggath Creations.
“When you inevitably become encumbered, you shall be sent to a long abandoned Dwemer emporium,” the mod’s description reads. “There, you will embark on a quest to unravel the origins of a mysterious master. As you progress the Dragonborn will be pitted against Tamriel’s ultimate adversary–clutter.”
Once you conquer the dastardly clutter boss, Mr. Storageborn will join your party permanently: “With unfathomable storage capacity, the ability to collect loot, tidy up your homestead and be summoned with a new Thu’um, even when not a companion, Kallax will change your clutter management forever.”
“At IKEA, we believe in creating a better everyday life for the many people–and why shouldn’t that include their digital lives?” Kemi Anthony, IKEA’s Marketing Communication Manager for the U.K. & Ireland, said in a statement. “Skyrim possesses one of the largest modding communities in gaming, and we saw a space where our expertise in functional storage could make a real difference in this fantasy world.”
She added, “Matt Berry’s distinctive, legendary voice brings theatrics, booming authority and charm to the new Creation. In bringing Kallax to life we hope to not only make a meaningful difference for Skyrim players but doing so with a touch of added IKEA playfulness to delight gamers who’ve long been bogged down by too much stuff.”
Players can acquire Mr. Storageborn and IKEA’s other accoutrements for free in the Creations menu within Skyrim.
