GameStop, the American video game retailer, announced on Monday the launch of its Ethereum NFT marketplace – which is now live in the “public beta” phase.
Right now, users can buy, sell or trade over 53,000 listed NFTs across 236 different collections.
The platform will host educational content from NFT basics to advanced learning to help users get acquainted with NFT trading.
GameStop’s non-custodian NFT marketplace can be connected to any Web3 digital wallet, including the GameStop Wallet launched in May. It will also include features like NFT transaction history and statistics on collections.
The ailing gaming company had first teased the launch of an NFT marketplace back in May 2021. With this move, GameStop hopes to reinvent its business and grab a share of the rising consumer interest in Web3 assets.
Even though the current collections are more tuned towards artwork, the company intends to make big headways in the NFT gaming space. In February, GameStop partnered with Immutable X, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, to establish a $100 million NFT-focused token incentive fund for game developers.
The news comes days after GameStop announced company-wide layoffs, which saw its CFO being fired.
“As noted last week, our leadership team is committed to profitably growing our commerce business and launching new products, including those developed by our blockchain team”
CEO Matt Furlong had said in an e-mail to employees explaining the layoff decision, as reported by Kotaka.
“GameStop of the future has a unique opportunity to anticipate and meet an expanding range of customer demands and merging interest across our stores, web properties, and the virtual world”
he added.
GameStop aims to turnaround its business after years of financial hardship contributed in part by the beleaguered retail business and poor management decisions. The company hopes to rejuvenate the business by foraying into blockchain-related products primarily focused on gaming.
Visit the marketplace here: https://nft.gamestop.com/
