IKEA has stores worldwide where you can visit and pick up all the flatpack furniture your heart desires for your home. However, the company wasn’t content with purely physical locations, and now it’s coming to Roblox as a game called The Co-Worker.
The Co-Worker is a game built in Roblox by a development team, just like the more popular releases you’ve heard of, such as Type Soul. In it, you can visit a complete virtual IKEA store, but you’re not there for shopping. Instead, the game is designed to get players into a virtual workplace where they’ll shift stock, serve customers, cook food, and do everything else that’s required in an IKEA store on a daily basis. While most players won’t be paid for this work, a limited number will be.
When is the release date for The Co-Worker IKEA Roblox game?
The Co-Worker IKEA Roblox game will be released on June 24, 2024. While you’ll be able to jump in and play around in whatever job you want, there will be actual real staff employed by IKEA in the game alongside you. They’re there to help you as you play, and you could be one of them if you play your cards right.
How to apply to The Co-Worker IKEA Roblox game job application
To apply for The Co-Worker IKEA Roblox game job, you must fill in the application by the end of the day on Sunday, June 16, 2024. Interviews will be held for successful applicants between June 14, 2024, and June 18, 2024, and they’ll begin working on the game from its release date.
Only ten spaces are available to work in the game, and the hourly pay is slated to be £13.15 / €14.80, according to IKEA. This is a pretty decent wage, depending on how many days you get to work, and the fact that the job is fully remote makes it extremely attractive.
To put this into context, in the UK, the average hourly pay for working in a major coffee chain is roughly £10 per hour. I’d take working in the Roblox IKEA store over that, but I’d expect the competition to be a lot more fierce to get your foot in the door in The Co-Worker.
What do you do in The Co-Worker IKEA Roblox game?
Developed by Swedish game design company The Gang, IKEA’s Roblox game The Co-Worker is built to be the first in which a brand actively pays players to staff its virtual stores. More than that, though, IKEA explains how, “At IKEA, there is no set route to career progression. Our co-workers are able to change roles, switch departments, and grow in any direction they choose, both in the game or in the real world. There are many ways to learn and grow at IKEA, and that’s what IKEA on Roblox is all about.”
Unlike most companies, IKEA has room for staff to shift between departments and try out new roles whilst remaining within the company and retaining their continuous employment. There are, of course, promotions, but I imagine that part of the appeal of working for the company is knowing that you could one day move to a different department to keep things fresh without needing to look for a new job and effectively start from scratch.
In The Co-Worker, you’ll get to experience this. The gameplay is working. You’ll get products from the warehouse, cook up a storm, and feed eager shoppers who have arrived an hour early to make sure they can browse before everyone else, and direct customers to the products or departments they’re looking for. I really hope there’s a team that builds the showrooms because I’ve always wanted to do that.
Based on the information IKEA has provided, it doesn’t sound like there will be levels or experience points. Instead, this seems to be an attempt to showcase how good it is to work at IKEA without needing to quit your job and try it out in real life, risking a lot of regrets first.
As a concept, The Co-Worker also creates a new way to work and play games. The video game industry is massive, and now IKEA has opened up a new avenue for people to get into it by working in a virtual store. While it probably won’t lead to actual sales, it does open up a new workplace for a new generation who might not be able to pick up a traditional job.
