GameStop, one of the world’s largest video game retailers, has launched the beta for its new cryptocurrency and non-fungible token wallet. This new move by the company has the potential to cause a surge for the price of Gamestop shares, drawing investors with a whole new reason to give GameStop a chance. With fans of gaming, GameStop’s primary audience, this change could bring some backlash for the company.
All About GameStop
GameStop is a gaming merchandise retailer founded in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, in 1984, where it retains its global headquarters. At its peak in 2015, it boasted more than 6000 stores and $9 billion in annual sales. It retains a reduced retail presence, with stores in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Many of these stores carry alternative brand names, such as ThinkGeek, EB Games and Micromania-Zing.
GameStop also sells products directly through its website, offering toys, collectibles, apparel and accessories alongside its primary offerings of game consoles and titles. It allows customers to trade in their old consoles or games and customers can also buy pre-owned goods.
It has faced challenges from 2016 because of competition from digital distribution services and, in early 2021, was at the epicenter of a short squeeze, enveloping numerous securities traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.
Who Are GameStop’s Biggest Customers?
In the past, gaming fans have stood opposed to initiatives by their favorite games to incorporate NFTs and similar concepts into their ecosystems, most likely for fear of this integration adding another price tag they must pay their way through to enjoy their favorite pastime. Gamers have been burned in the past by many large game companies locking important content behind paywalls, forcing them to shell out more cash or forfeit their enjoyment. With the concept of NFTs fast approaching the gaming space, fans of this hobby are growing concerned that more and more content will be locked behind increasingly pricey barriers that can only be passed with possession of certain tokens.
GameStop’s New NFT Wallet
The new Ethereum wallet that GameStop has produced has been released as an extension for the Google Chrome and Brave web browsers, and allows users to store, send, and receive ETH, NFTs, and ERC-20 tokens. The wallet is non-custodial, and is compatible with hardware wallets, giving users the opportunity to gain the benefits of cold storage for their coins and NFTs. The release of this new wallet is in preparation for the subsequent launch of GameStop’s upcoming NFT marketplace during the second quarter of the year. The success of this endeavor could serve to push GameStop’s stock to new heights. If GameStop is able to prove to gaming fans that NFTs could be a meaningful addition to their hobbies without simply being another price tag to deal with, NFTs could also see more widespread adoption in spaces such as gaming. If fans remain unconvinced, however, there may be no convincing this fandom to change their opinions on blockchain adoption within the mainstream video game industry, giving customers yet another major complaint to levy against GameStop.