GameStop recorded a loss of $158 million for the first quarter of 2022 but its move into crypto shows potential dividends. The video game retailer saw a loss in its hardware sales on sales of $1.378 billion. This was up from $1.277 billion during the same period in 2021.
Matt Furlong, the CEO of GameStop, in the earnings call, said the retailer believes that digital assets are core to the future of gaming. He highlighted that it’s evident that GameStop is going to double down on its digital asset strategy. The company had partnered with Immutable X to develop and launch its NFT marketplace. As such, GameStop received IMX tokens – which it sold for about $77 million. The company will release its NFT marketplace in the second quarter of 2022.
This will boost GameStop’s business which has seen a resurgence since 2021’s stock incident. Moreover, GameStop partnered with Loopring – a scaling solution project – to support transactions. The service allows users to store, use and transact with crypto and NFTs.
GameStop’s foray into crypto and NFT space happened in a rather subdued manner. It has also launched a beta for the in-game wallet which competes with market heavyweight MetaMask. The wallet, which is still in its early days, is seen as a game-changer for the video retailer. However, GameStop has not announced anything beyond the use of crypto and non-fungible tokens.
