GameStop is launching its own NFT marketplace

theverge.com:

GameStop plans to launch its own marketplace for non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) and is co-creating an “up to $100 million” fund for game developers who use it. The marketplace will mark GameStop’s expansion from a popular meme stock to a company that dabbles in cryptocurrency and Web3 tech — although it may also provoke the wrath of gamers who are stridently opposed to NFTs.

The new GameStop NFT marketplace is supposed to launch later this year. It’s built on Immutable X, a platform based on the popular Ethereum cryptocurrency blockchain. Designed by Immutable, the company behind the NFT trading card game Gods Unchained, Immutable X is intended to mitigate the biggest drawbacks of Ethereum: its massive energy consumption and the high associated “gas fees,” which can add exorbitant processing costs to any transaction. The protocol combines hundreds of thousands of sale records into a single transaction that’s written to the Ethereum blockchain; Immutable promises to make up for the environmental costs it does incur by paying for carbon offsets.

Immutable’s existing partnerships are supposed to give the new GameStop initiative a boost since companies that already use Immutable X will be able to feature their NFTs on the marketplace. Immutable and GameStop are also partnering to create the fund for developers. While Immutable X is used by some non-gaming-focused partners like TikTok, GameStop’s marketplace is pitched as a place to buy and sell in-game assets represented as blockchain tokens — GameStop offers the examples of digital real estate, weapons, and character skins.

GameStop previously signaled its interest in blockchain tech last year, advertising for a “head of Web3 gaming” as well as a variety of NFT-based jobs.