GameStop is wading into the world of NFTs and cryptocurrency.
Photo Illustration by Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/Getty Images
GameStop on Thursday confirmed it plans to launch an NFT marketplace, saying it has partnered with blockchain startup Immutable X to develop the project. The NFT marketplace is expected to launch later this year, GameStop said in a release.
An NFT, or nonfungible token, is a blockchain-based technology used to determine ownership of unique digital or physical items such as art, music or even a tweet. NFTs began popping up everywhere in 2021 — from the NFL to Twitter and Variety — and have grown increasingly popular in the art and collectibles scenes, with some NFTs going for hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
GameStop and Immutable also plan to launch an up to $100 million fund that will award grants to people making NFTs for the new marketplace. The fund will use Immutable’s cryptocurrency, IMX. GameStop said people from “gaming studios, web 3.0 and metaverse gaming developers, and elsewhere,” can request to be creators on the company’s NFT marketplace.
Some video game companies have started looking into integrating NFTs into games. Ubisoft in December introduced NFT weapons and gear to the squad shooter Ghost Recon Breakpoint. However, gamers are wary of new methods of monetizing video games, and there are environmental concerns surrounding the technology.
