Video game retailer GameStop, widely known as the company whose stock kickstarted the meme stock investment craze, has announced it intends to launch a premium NFT platform by the end of Q2 2022.
The planned launch date was announced in GameStop’s Q4 2021 earnings call, released on March 17.
GameStop Eyes Crypto Opportunities
In a further sign of its increased interest in crypto, GameStop also mentioned the significant growth potential it sees in the sector in its 10-K filing, explaining:
As we scale and expand our core offerings we will simultaneously invest in additional growth, including blockchain, digital assets (including non-fungible tokens), Web 3.0 technology, and new destination formats for our stores.
GameStop K-10 Filing
Given its existing status as a well-known video game retailer, GameStop plans to focus its NFT efforts on in-game assets and other game-centric virtual assets, including character skins and in-game real estate.
NFTs Will Launch On Immutable X
Having flagged its intention to enter the NFT space in May 2021, in January 2022 GameStop announced it had chosen to partner with Immutable X its platform. GameSpot has cited Immutable X’s zero gas fees for minting NFTs and its carbon-neutral status as crucial strengths.
Immutable X is an Ethereum-based layer-2 system built specifically for NFT trading. It uses zero-knowledge rollup technology developed by StarkWare to complete over 9000 NFT transactions per second.