GameStop joins the NFT market as part of their turnaround plan

GameStop recently launched a division in their company to help develop a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT). In 2021, GameStop put out several job listings indicating that they are looking for ‘exceptional engineers, designers, gamers and marketers’ to come aboard the team and help develop GameStop’s Ethereum-based NFT project. 

GameStop’s Chief Executive Matt Furlong mentioned in an earnings call with analysts last December 2021 that GameStop is putting emphasis on the long term effect of their NFT project. The company believes that entering the NFT space would position GameStop to build what will be an ultimately larger business in the future. Furlong also mentioned that GameStop is exploring business opportunities that involve NFT technologies and blockchain. 

According to several reports made by The Wall Street Journal and Money Control, there are already 20 people within GameStop’s NFT project division. It will be responsible for developing the online hub where GameStop users and customers can buy, sell and trade their NFTs of virtual videogame goods. These goods can come in the form of special weapons, exclusive avatar outfits and even rare avatars. 

The insiders interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said that the company is looking to select game developers and publishers to list NFTs on GameStop’s marketplace once it launches this 2022. GameStop is also reportedly close to signing a deal with two crypto startups to share their technology and co-invest in developing games that would use blockchain for the NFT project. 

The Wall Street Journal report also mentioned that GameStop expects to close more deals with other crypto companies that would invest millions of dollars on GameStop’s NFT project this year. 

This turnaround effort to increase GameStop’s financial performance had not yet shown any significant result for the company. However, platforms like Tamebay, a leading provider of intelligence and news to the business world, saw potential in GameStop’s NFT project. 

In Tamebay’s post on January 13, they mentioned that GameStop’s experience as a retailer could ‘shine a new light’ on how to deal with the digital sales of NFTs without pushing gamers to their limits with the sale of digital assets. The report also mentioned that this project by GameStop could help push more gaming-related businesses into the NFT space.