GameStop, the American video game retailer, has announced the launch of its NFT marketplace, GameStop NFT. Launching on Ethereum using a layer-2 solution to minimise transaction fees, the marketplace is focusing on NFT artwork with a roadmap to expand into GameFi.
GameStop's intention is to use the marketplace as a vehicle for users to trade in-game NFTs. Thanks to their partnership with Immutable X, GameStop plan to connect the marketplace with popular play-to-earn games. GameStop NFT will initially use a rollup solution, Loopring, to bundle transactions, so only NFTs minted on Loopring may be transacted on GameStop NFT. Users can also connect to GameStop NFT using the recently launched GameStop Wallet.
GameStop appears poised to transition from its reliance on retail sales and expand into digital assets and GameFi. It has been a year since GameStop announced it was building an NFT team which sought experts, gamers, community leaders and designers. The early results of the campaign are GameStop NFT and GameStop Wallet.
The trading-frenzy of January 2021, involving an army of Reddit users who collaborated to cause a short-squeeze in the heavily shorted GameStop stock, has had a ripple effect for the company which was facing heavy losses before the dramatic rise in its share price. In the wake of a tumultuous 2021, GameStop will enter the NFT market and, through its various partnerships, looks set to become a serious player in GameFi.
The video-game industry has continued to display strong signs of growth. Statista, a market and consumer data company, predicts the market value of video games will surpass USD$250 billion by 2025 as shown in the graph below. The industry's continued steady growth is a promising sign for GameStop as it kicks off its push into NFTs and GameFi.
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