We attended the IKEA × Xbox YXSTABY Launch Event in Columbus, OH on Saturday, October 10, 2026. All IKEA Family members received a free limited edition metal Halo themed keychain if you registered and attended the event. They also had gaming trivia, a scavenger hunt, and a few other gamer themed activities.
My brother, wife, and I participated in the gaming trivia event as a team and ended up finishing in 1st place with two other teams. Using our extensive gamer knowledge, we were able to answer 27 out of the 30 questions correctly. We were not expecting to win, but were excited when they announced our team as one of the winners.
All of the teams that finished in 1st place received an YXSTABY themed GÖTEHULT Shopping Bag, the YXSTABY Gaming D-pad Cushion, and a MÖJLIGHET Headset and Tablet Stand. This was a nice surprise for us since we were planning on buying the YXSTABY Gaming D-pad Cushion and didn't have to spend money to get it.
We were hungry after winning the gaming trivia event, so we went and bought three of the YXSTABY Bistro Boxes that included two hot dogs, cinnamon bun, bag of chips, bag of candy, and a fountain drink in a souvenir cup. The cinnamon bun was good, but the hot dogs left a lot to be desired. The buns were stale and the quality of the hot dogs reminded us of the ones you get at a gas station. Though, it was nice getting the souvenir cup and being able to refill it throughout the rest of the day while we walked around the IKEA store shopping and searching for hidden Halo Spartans.
While shopping we also ran into a fellow gamer attending the IKEA × Xbox YXSTABY Launch Event. It was nice meeting him and chatting about video games we have been playing lately. I mentioned that I had been playing Black Hole Havoc on Playdate and Hades on Steam Deck, but forgot to mention Orbitals on Nintendo Switch 2. He has been playing Gears of War: E-Day and so has my brother, so they had more to talk about compared to me mentioning some obscure Playdate game and a 6-year-old Steam game. 😅
After completing the scavenger hunt and finding all 27 Spartans located throughout the store we headed to where we thought you told someone the answer to receive another free gift. That is when we realized that it was just a QR code to scan that took you to a buy one desert, get one free coupon. D'OH! 😆
After that let down we decided we spent enough time at IKEA and went to visit a couple video game stores in the area and an outlet mall before heading home. We had a fun day at IKEA and enjoyed the Xbox themed activities and hanging out with other gamers. The hot dogs were not the greatest, but receiving the limited edition keychain and winning the gaming trivia event made up for the stale buns.
