GameStop partnered with Immutable X to launch not only a marketplace, but a special fund for game developers. The marketplace is expected to go live later this year, marking the company’s entry into Web3 technologies.
GameStop recently unveiled plans to launch a native marketplace for NFTs, creating a new “up to $100 million” fund, which will be used by game developers. With the launch of the marketplace, the company will break out of recent “meme stock” status, and emerge as a visible player in Web3 technology and digital currency.
GameStop’s NFT Plans
It has been a year since the GameStop short squeeze. Now, however, GameStop is ready to move into the future, and embrace Web3, even if that means alienating some of its customers — gamers who oppose the NFT trend.
According to the company’s plans, the GameStop NFT marketplace is expected to go live later this year, although the firm did not provide the exact or even approximate date. What is known is that the marketplace will be built on an Ethereum-based platform called Immutable X. The reason for this is Immutable X’s ability to mitigate Ethereum’s flaws, including massive energy consumption and high gas fees.
The Immutable X protocol bypasses native Ethereum issues by combining hundreds of thousands of sale records, to form a single executable transaction. As such, it reduces the number of transactions that have to be individually recorded on Ethereum. This also works towards achieving a reduction in carbon offset payments.
Immutable also has many existing partnerships that are expected to boost the new GameStop initiative, as partners will be able to feature their NFTs in the upcoming marketplace.
The Rise of NFTs in Gaming
NFTs have become highly popular in gaming, where users must increasingly purchase tokenized in-game items via an NFT. The play-to-earn model of gaming will soon become predominantly NFT-driven; users are demanding that games let them earn cryptocurrencies, and NFTs which they can buy, sell, and trade on NFT marketplaces, such as what GameStop has promised to develop.
GameStop signaled its interest in blockchain technology back in 2021 when it started looking for a “head of Web3 gaming” while posting a variety of job listings connected to NFTs.
