In Sweden’s gaming industry, more people work in artistic roles than in programming. It’s one of the more surprising figures in Dataspelsbranschen’s own statistics, and it says something about the gaming room: the entire world on the screen has been drawn, painted, and colored by people, while the wall around it is often left completely bare or covered with a glowing strip and a few gadgets. Here, we’ll look at how a poster can make the room a place you want to spend time in, what works when a screen is glowing right in front of you, and which designs last longer than the next console upgrade.
Quick facts: According to Dataspelsbranschen, around 6.9 million Swedes play digital games. The industry generated SEK 36.8 billion in 2024, has over 1,100 active studios and more than 9,100 employees, and 93 percent of companies have fewer than ten employees. Swedish game exports are worth more than iron ore exports. Ergonomic guidelines recommend a viewing distance of around 50–75 centimeters, with the top of the screen at or just below eye level, and matte surfaces around the workstation to reduce reflections.
The room where the wall has to compete with a screen - without fighting it
A gaming room differs from other rooms in one fundamental way: the strongest light source is not the lamp or the window, but the screen. This has two consequences for wall art. First, you mostly see the wall out of the corner of your eye, so an image that requires close reading is lost. Second, the screen’s glow affects colors, so a white or light image behind the display can feel glaring, while a dark image suddenly becomes a black spot. Ergonomic recommendations, including those from screen and office furniture manufacturers, point to the same thing: the screen, wall, and room should be at the same comfortable light level, so no single surface draws the eye. A simple test is to place a sheet of white paper next to the keyboard. If the screen’s white looks like a glowing sign by comparison, the brightness is too high for the room.
That doesn’t mean the motifs have to be understated. It means that placement and color choices do most of the work. A good starting point is to think of the wall in three zones. The first is the wall behind the screen, which should be muted and preferably matte, since glossy surfaces create reflected points of light. The second is the side walls, where you can hang larger, more expressive motifs, since you see them in your peripheral vision. The third is the wall behind you, which becomes the background if you stream or make video calls, and is worth considering for that very reason.
In its guide to gaming rooms, IKEA notes that the goal is a room that’s both functional and cozy, and that the details are what bring the whole room to life, from LED strips and cable management to ergonomic chairs. Wall art belongs in that category, but it’s often overlooked. Find more inspiration on IKEA’s page about gaming rooms.
"The games you love are made by painters. So it’s no surprise if the wall gets to be one too."
Sweden’s game artists and the wall: why graphic art feels at home in this room
Sweden is one of the world’s most successful gaming nations. Add up the figures from the Swedish Games Industry association and the picture is clear: more than 1,100 studios, almost all of them small, and revenue of SEK 36.8 billion in 2024. Games have also made such an impact that an entire generation has grown up with a distinct visual culture, where concept art, pixel art, maps, and posters are just as important as the games themselves. The industry estimates that more people work in artistic roles than in programming, and that’s a helpful clue when choosing artwork. It’s the imagery that carries the experience, not the code.
That makes graphic, clearly composed motifs especially well suited to this room. Large areas of color, bold shapes, and crisp outlines tie in with how game worlds are built, and they also work well in your peripheral vision. Our collection of graphic posters is a natural starting point, and for a playful pop feel, there’s pop culture and pop art. If you want to bring in the aesthetics of gaming worlds without referencing a specific game, abstract shapes, arcade colors, and stylized landscapes are often a safer choice than a motif that will soon feel dated.
Motifs that will last beyond the next game release
Fan art has a problem. It's tied to a title, and titles age. A good trick is to choose art that shares the qualities of games without referring to them: strong silhouettes, nighttime cityscapes, neon signs, space landscapes, Japanese landscapes with contrast and depth, or large blocks of color in two or three tones. Then you can change games without changing your wall. Street art is another good option, since it has the same kind of visual weight and freedom. In our street art collection, you'll find artwork that works in this very room.
Color temperature: warm artwork against a cool screen
Most screens glow with a cool, bluish white tone, which can easily make the room feel chilly. An easy way to balance this is to choose artwork with warm accents, such as rust, honey, coral, or terracotta. Against a cool screen and dark walls, warm tones stand out in the room, giving your eyes something softer to rest on between battles. Conversely, a room with lots of wood and warm lamps can take cool blue artwork, such as nighttime cityscapes and ocean views, without feeling harsh. Remember that it's the interplay between the screen, wall, and artwork that matters, not the artwork alone. One trick is to photograph the room with your phone while the screen is on and look at the picture: you'll immediately see which colors get lost and which ones stand out.
The wall behind you: the background everyone sees
If you stream, record, or have video meetings from the same chair, the wall behind you is the room's most visible surface, even if you never look at it yourself. A group of two or three pictures in matching frames works best there, since they give the camera a calm, cohesive background. Avoid very small details and thin lines, which can flicker on camera, and choose artwork with clear shapes instead. Keep the pictures about half a meter to a meter above the back of the chair, so they're visible over your shoulders without ending up behind your head. It's a small adjustment that makes the pictures show up on camera in a way that feels considered.
Measurements, height, and frames: how to hang art when you're sitting down
In a gaming room, you spend most of your time sitting down, and that changes what the right height is. Instead of hanging the center of the artwork at standing eye level, around 145 centimeters, you should lower it slightly, to around 125–140 centimeters above the floor for artwork viewed from your desk. A side wall you look at from your chair works best when the center of the artwork is roughly level with the top of the screen. Screen ergonomics guidelines say the top of the screen should be at or just below eye level, which gives you a good horizon line to follow with the artwork.
The viewing distance from the screen is about 50–75 centimeters, so you’ll see anything hanging beside it from one to two meters away. This makes 50x70 centimeters an excellent size for a side wall, while 30x40 works well in a group of three or four prints above the desk. If you have dual monitors or a wide screen, a landscape print in 70x100 can help balance the width. You can compare more sizes in our guide to prints for the TV room, which covers similar questions about the screen’s dominance.
Tip: Choose frames without shiny glass, or with anti-reflective glass or acrylic, if the print hangs in line with the screen. That way, you avoid double reflections when the screen is on. A black or dark oak frame is timeless, and our range of frames includes several options that suit darker rooms.
Dark walls and neon lights
Many gaming rooms are painted in dark colors to create depth and reduce screen glare, which is a smart move. Dark walls give prints a dramatic backdrop, and colorful designs stand out in a new way. We cover this in detail in our buying guide to prints for dark walls. One important detail is to avoid LED strips shining directly on the print. Place them behind the desk or behind the screen so the light hits the wall, not the artwork.
The teenager’s gaming room, the adult’s room, and the guest room that became a gaming space
The gaming room looks different depending on who uses it. For a teenager, the wall is often an expression of identity, so it’s important to choose a print they can live with for three years, not just three months. We’ve written more about how tastes change in our guide to posters for a teenager’s room. For an adult gamer, the setup is often in a corner of a larger room, so the goal is to make the gaming area feel connected to the rest of the home. A clearly defined group of prints behind the desk does more for that than a scattered arrangement across the entire wall.
A third scenario is a room that used to be a guest room, home office, or storage room and has since become a gaming room. In this case, the wall’s original color sets the tone, and it can make sense to start with a larger image in a muted shade and build on it with smaller designs. You can find a more minimalist style in our minimalist posters, which also suit those who want a calm backdrop for long sessions.
Frequently asked questions about posters for the gaming room
Want to start somewhere? First, take a look at graphic posters, choose an image that holds up in your peripheral vision, and pair it with a dark wood or black frame. Once you’ve hung it up, sit in your chair and check that the image still looks good from where you’re sitting. That’s where it needs to work.