GameStop has been all over the news thanks to its stock, which has been a rollercoaster. The center of a recent upheaval caused by Reddit stockbrokers, GameStop's stock recently saw a climb back up over $200.
This time, however, it seems that the price climb was not due to more interference from a hedge fund or a group trying to beat the hedge fund. Instead, the price seems to have risen thanks to interest in a new business that GameStop is stepping into. It seems clear that GameStop is getting into the business of NFTs, or Non Fungible Tokens.
GameStop launched an NFT webpage today without any fanfare, and without much on it. The site features a prominent graphic displaying the logo for Ethereum, the most actively used blockchain housing the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
The graphic shows a stylized GameBoy reading GameStop's motto "Power to the Players," followed by "Power to the Creators, Power to the Collectors." If the company is adding to its popular motto after all this time, NFTs must be planned to become a significant part of GameStop's revenue stream. GameStop has already taken steps to transition to online sales, one of which is the construction of a huge building to aid online GameStop sales. These sales will no doubt include the NFTs as well as physically shipped products.
There's no official word on what the NFTs will consist of, but since this is GameStop, it's a safe guess that they will be game-related in some way. At the moment, the webpage offers little but an Ethereum link that leads to what seems to be a trading room. People can comment in an ongoing discussion within the room, and many already have, expressing excitement at the new development. Indeed, both buyers and GameStop have reason to be excited. GameStop recently began matching prices of competitors, but even with measures like this, new sources of revenue are necessary. NFTs may well prove to be the answer.
It is likely none of this would have been possible without the GameStop stock fiasco. Fueled by independent traders capitalizing on and ruining the ventures of a hedge fund, GameStop saw a massive increase in stock value that lasted an unprecedented time. At least one of the parties involved took home 200,000 GameStop shares from the endeavor.
This is still a new venture for GameStop, which is likely why the new webpage features a recruiting call to help with the NFTs. This also follows a change in leadership in GameStop which is still ongoing. CEO George Sherman is slated to leave the company with a huge bonus alongside others, so it's clear GameStop's staff will be significantly different before the NFT business takes full shape.
Source: GameStop NFT Page