GameStop Corp. GME 2.11% said it would launch a marketplace for nonfungible tokens later this year in partnership with an Australian blockchain startup, stepping into a trendy but unproven area of tech as the videogame retailer tries to turn around its struggling business.
Sydney-based Immutable Pty. Ltd. will help develop the marketplace on its carbon-neutral platform, called Immutable X, which uses the blockchain-based computer network Ethereum, GameStop said Thursday.
GameStop also said it intends to create a fund with Immutable of up to $100 million to be distributed to developers for creating NFTs for its marketplace that could be used in games. The fund would be created using Immutable’s cryptocurrency called IMX, GameStop said. Immutable has also agreed to pay GameStop up to $150 million worth of IMX if GameStop’s marketplace achieves milestones for transactions and meets other parameters.
GameStop’s NFT initiative was reported last month by The Wall Street Journal. The Journal article said the retailer had hired more than 20 people to run a new division focused on building partnerships around NFT- and cryptocurrency-related projects.
Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop has been working to reset its business after years of losses. The company overhauled its executive team and board of directors in June after activist investor Ryan Cohen pushed for change. Mr. Cohen was named chairman and he has repeatedly pledged to make GameStop more tech-centric.
Last year individual investors helped boost the retailer’s stock price as part of a broader stock-trading frenzy.
GameStop’s turnaround efforts so far haven’t led to big improvements in its financial performance. For the quarter through October, the company said revenues grew, but its loss widened compared with the same period a year earlier.
GameStop shares have fallen about 50% over the past three months, but are still well above where they were trading in 2020.
In developing an NFT marketplace, GameStop is wading into much-hyped and unproven territory. A handful of NFT marketplaces already exist, including some with tokens from game publishers. Last month, a marketplace called OpenSea said it raised $300 million in venture capital, putting its valuation at $13.3 billion. GameStop’s current market capitalization is under $9 billion.
Immutable was founded in late 2017 and has 152 employees, according to its co-founder and president, Robbie Ferguson. He said Immutable has raised around $85 million in funding.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]
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