GameStop To Enter The NFT Space
GameStop is a well-known American store for video games, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise. The company’s headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, and it is one of the world’s largest gaming retailers. According to recent statistics, the firm operates 3,192 stores in the United States, 253 stores in Canada, 417 locations in Australia and New Zealand, and 954 stores in Europe.
The company’s popularity plummeted in the mid-late 2010s owing to the significant changes in the shopping trend, which included online purchasing as well as free online game downloads. Due to the stock price volatility and the GameStop short squeeze, the firm generated another big profit.
In addition to retail locations, the company now owns and publishes the video game magazine “Game Informer,” and operates Zing Marketplace in Australia, an e-commerce vintage gaming and pop culture marketplace that facilitates the consumer to consumer sales.
GameStop’s Successful Years (2004–2016)
GameStop captured EB Games (Electronics Boutique) in the year 2005 for a price of $1.44 billion. GameStop’s business were expanded across Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand as a result of the acquisition.Again two years later in the year, 2007 GameStop acquired Rhino Video Games from Blockbuster LLC for an undisclosed amount.Rhino Video Games owned and operated 70 video game businesses across the Southeast.MovieStop was launched in 2004 as a stand-alone store specialising on new and used movies by GameStop. More than 42 outlets were opened, most of them were next to or near to GameStop stores.In April 2008, GameStop acquired Free Record Shop’s 49 Norwegian stores. In the same year October, GameStop Micromania, a French video-game retailer, for $700 million. GameStop, which had previously had no stores in France, suddenly has 332 locations in the country.In the next year 2009, November, it acquired a majority stake in Jolt Online Gaming, an Irish browser game studio.
In the year 2010 GameStop acquired Kongregate, a san Francisco-based website for browser-based games. Later in the year 2017, it was sold for $55 million. Later, in the year 2016, GameStop acquired 507 AT&T store chains in plans to diversify into new businesses and be less dependent on the video game market.
After the year 2016, several factors made the GameStop monopoly collapse drastically such as the changes in market conditions, financial losses, etc.
A New Beginning: GameStop to Enter NFT Space
The world’s largest video game retailer, GameStop, has joined the NFT and cryptocurrency sectors. The video game retailer has announced the launch of a new division devoted to developing a market for NFTs and other crypto partnerships. GameStop’s turnaround plan, which has struggled in recent years as players have migrated away from physical game releases, has resulted in this surprising decision.
Several job posts from 2021 indicated that the company was looking for “excellent programmers, designers, gamers, and marketers” to join an Ethereum-based NFT project.
GameStop follows in the footsteps of Ubisoft, which released the Quartz platform that leverages Tezos, an energy-efficient alternative to Ethereum, to become the first traditional commerce company in recent years to integrate in-game NFTs.
On GameStop’s NFT platform, customers will be able to purchase, sell, and trade NFTs of video game items such as clothing, weapons, and player avatar features. In-game NFTs not only suggest that different video games will become interoperable, but they also allow gamers to profit from rare items in this industry by trading them.
What are NFTs and how Different Entities can make Use of them?
Digital assets protected by blockchain technology, such as Bitcoin and Ether, are interchangeable and have features akin to currency. Non-fungible tokens, on the other hand, are one-of-a-kind chunks of code that can’t be duplicated and don’t have a traditional value attached to them.
NFTs, like Bitcoin and Ether, are secured by blockchain technology, but each NFT asset is unique. Just as an original Vincent Van Gogh painting is one of a kind artefact and may fetch millions of dollars at auction, NFTs are the digital counterpart that proves ownership. They are worth whatever someone believes they are worth, and the amount offered can vary greatly.
Reasons Behind the Increase in NFTs Price
The value of NFT assets has risen in recent years for two key reasons. To begin with, many NFT purchases are speculative, with some persons purchasing NFTs in order to immediately resell them at a better price.
Another reason is that some people, like Vignesh Sundaresan, who paid $69 million for the aforementioned Beeple work, want to be a part of history and possess a piece of it.
How Businesses Can Make Use of NFTs?
NFTs have risen to prominence in the year 2021, and there are numerous benefits for any company or creative that creates digital art or products to experiment with them. However, whether you are a visual artist, musician, or game designer, it is worthwhile to consider making and selling NFTs.
If your company intends to make NFTs, they must first be coined. Some members-only platforms can also assist creators in the production of NFTs.A corporation must sell an NFT after it has been formed. Many of the platforms that allow you to mint an NFT also serve as marketplaces for buying and selling NFTs, such as OpenSea and SuperRare.With the purpose of making a profit, you can offer your asset for whatever price you believe it will sell for. You can even code an NFT so that the original artist receives a royalty when it is sold.
Conclusion
GameStop, the world’s largest video game retailer, has caused a stir by announcing the creation of a non-fungible token marketplace for players. This gaming empire intends to establish cryptocurrency partnerships as well as an online hub for trading NFTs for virtual game collectibles.
