Ikea will pay 10 Roblox players to roleplay as employees in its virtual store

Jun 09, 2024 09:42 PM - 5 months ago 59013

Corporate publicity stunts involving virtual reality are almost ever bad, but Ikea’s caller Roblox shop feels particularly silly. The institution announced past week that it plans to salary 10 people £13.15 aliases €14.80 per hr to activity successful The Co-Worker Game, a virtual Ikea shop successful Roblox. The institution is taking applications until June 16th, only from candidates successful nan UK aliases Ireland who are 18 aliases older.

Being paid to beryllium an NPC. What a world. The virtual labor will transportation retired tasks for illustration serving meatballs aliases helping group find clone furnishings aliases different Ikea items. They tin besides “get promoted to move departments, conscionable for illustration successful nan existent world.”

A look astatine Ikea’s Co-Worker Game virtual store.

Image: Ikea

I wouldn’t presume this is simply a existent job, moreover if Ikea is paying existent money for it. The website wherever you tin use says it’s a “limited contract.” The exertion asks you questions for illustration “How do you consciousness astir being turned into pixels?” aliases “If you were a pixelated IKEA furniture, which 1 would you beryllium and why?”

Ikea says it requires an up-to-date CV, though it doesn’t inquire for 1 upfront, and I couldn’t get past nan shape pinch my US-based telephone number. (If 1 of our readers crossed nan pond wants to springiness it a spell and nonstop america an update, I’d emotion to publication astir your experience.) The gig is unfastened to applicants 18 and older who unrecorded successful nan UK aliases nan Republic of Ireland, and it’s remote, truthful you tin propulsion up your caller Ikea gaming chair aft you’re done playing astir pinch Ikea’s virtual creation tool and service immoderate virtual meatballs from nan comfortableness of your ain home.

If you use and don’t get nan callback, don’t you worry. The institution says group who don’t get nan occupation tin besides “work, explore, and experience” nan Ikea Roblox store. And it says you tin triumph Ikea-exclusive UGCs, Roblox’s word for user-created items aliases different contented that exists wrong nan game.

I’ll beryllium very up-front, here. I person ne'er played pinch thing made successful Roblox. But fewer things sound little appealing to maine than pretending to beryllium a unit worker successful a virtual type of a real-life furnishings dealer. Other companies person tried their manus astatine hanging their marque retired successful VR — there’s nan Walmart Discovered virtual shop for buying integer items pinch Roblox’s in-game Robux currency, and Gucci has made Roblox environments, including Gucci municipality successful 2022.

So that facet of this is thing new. And group — often kids — do make money successful Roblox, something critics opportunity is exploitative. But this is nan first clip I’m alert of that a institution has offered to salary group existent money to activity successful their Roblox world, and it’s weird, but besides seems comparatively harmless, and little obnoxious than NFTs.

The institution says it’ll clasp virtual interviews betwixt June 14th and June 18th, and The Co-Worker Game launches connected June 24th.

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