Swedish furniture company IKEA has opened a new store. There's nothing strange about that. But wait a minute — the new store is inside a video game. And it's paying real people to work there! IKEA advertised for 10 positions in a virtual store it has opened in Roblox — and got more than 178,000 applications! Roblox is a popular online gaming platform that lets users play games and create their own. IKEA has created The Co-Worker Game on the platform. And it needed some employees. At the start of June, IKEA began looking for people aged 18 and over in the UK and Ireland to work as paid members of staff at the in-game store. It said staff would help customers, and would be able to get promoted and move departments, just like in real life. The company said it wanted to show that it does things a little differently. Wes Davis from technology website The Verge called it a "weird" but "harmless" idea. He said he'd never heard of other companies paying people to work in a game, but added that US company Walmart has already created a game on Roblox. IKEA said its employees would be paid a little over $16.50 per hour during their work-from-home shifts, which is about the same as the company's other workers get paid in the UK. The store opened on June 24. It's not clear how long the workers will be employed for, although the company said the positions would be on a "limited contract." It also said anyone who didn't get a job could still experience the virtual store and win in-game prizes.