On Monday, GameStop announced that, in an effort to reinvent its business and cash in on consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, it would launch an online marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its website.
A press release was issued by the foundation announcing that GameStop will be launching a platform where gamers, creators, and avid collectors of NFTs could buy, sell, and trade digital collectibles. There are over 230 NFT collections listed on the platform according to the platform’s announcement. As part of the release, the NFT marketplace was also revealed to be built on top of the Ethereum layer 2 network Loopring L2 as well as the NFT platform. In the future, there will be support for ImmutableX that will be added to the system.
In time, we expect to expand the functionality of the marketplace to encompass additional categories, like Web3 gaming, more creators, and other Ethereum environments.
GameStop stated in a statement
In February, GameStop announced that by the end of 2022, the company would launch its own NFT trading platform that would allow consumers to exchange NFTs for cash. As a result, the company changed the launch date from March to July in order to accommodate the market. In addition to the marketplace, GameStop has just launched its non-custodial crypto and NFT wallet, which allows users to interact with decentralized applications without having to leave their web browsers, just two months after launching its non-custodial crypto wallet.
GameStop is trying to win over investors who may have written it off as a legacy retailer with a few too many stores placed in outdated shopping malls as well as a company with a lack of growth potential. According to the company’s annual report, as of Jan. 29, GameStop operated 4,573 stores, of which 3,018 were located in the United States. The company also owns the EB Games and Micromania banners as well as its namesake business.
The company has now spread its wings to buzzy areas like NFTs in the hope of growing its business. A unique digital asset such as this has been greeted with both enthusiasm and skepticism because of its uniqueness. There are some retail industry observers who believe they will become hot holiday gifts for this year’s holidays. A total of $54 million is expected to be spent by retailers over the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, which means that around half a million NFTs are likely to be purchased from retailers.
As a result, some people may not be able to accept this new business model until it has entered the marketplace a bit too late. There is some evidence that digital artwork sales could be cooling off after reaching pandemic-fueled highs in the wake of the current outbreak. Besides competing with other established NFT marketplaces, such as the behemoth OpenSea, GameStop also has to contend with a number of new ones.
