GameStop shares jump 22% on back of plans to embrace NFTs and crypto

[midian182]

A hot potato: It seems that like an unrelenting tsunami destroying everything in its path, nobody can stop NFTs from becoming a part of mainstream games. GameStop is another entity jumping on the money-making bandwagon, having reportedly created a team to develop an online marketplace for virtual goods that will include in-game items.

According to the Wall Street Journal, GameStop has put together a 20-strong team to focus on NFTs and crypto. It is reportedly in talks with cryptocurrency/blockchain companies and game developers/publishers to push forward with its plans and integrate non-fungible tokens in games, with a marketplace launching later this year.

GameStop is also reportedly in discussions with partners about creating a number of funds, of up to $100 million each, to invest in NFT content creators and gaming companies.

Turning to virtual items and cryptocurrency is thought to be part of GameStop’s attempt at turning around its fortunes. The firm has been suffering in recent years as more consumers opt for digital versions of games over their physical counterparts. The rising popularity of game subscriptions services and streaming is also impacting sales.

GameStop launched a dedicated NFT website last year, though it currently only offers people a way to become a creator on its upcoming NFT marketplace.

CNBC reports that the company’s share price had been falling for the past month and a half but was up 22% following the Wall Street Journal report.

Non-fungible tokens in games is proving a more controversial topic than the loot box saga of 2017, when it was discovered that it would take 4,528 hours of gameplay (or $2,100) to unlock all base-game content in Star Wars Battlefront 2. Stalker 2 devs abandoned NFT plans for the upcoming game due to the backlash, and Ubisoft’s Quartz platform announcement video saw a deluge of dislikes; it also appears that nobody is buying the Ghost Recon NFTs.

However, Ubisoft isn’t backing down from NFTs, while Konami and Square Enix have announced their intention to embrace non-fungibles. The only industry player to speak out against them is It Takes Two director Josef Fares, who said he would rather get shot than add NFTs to his games.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92892-gamestop-shares-jump-22-back-plans-embrace-nfts.html

 

[psycros]

From the CEOs to the analysts to the day trade hustlers - morons, all the way down.

 

[Dimitriid]

That's a bad plan for a company that was saved in the 11th hour by gamers that as far as we know, still hold their sock and could sell it all and crash it on retaliation.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

-sigh-

 

[winjer]

So their solution to save the company is to scam consumers with NFTs!

 

[MaXtor]

Their solution is actually good. They're going to compete directly with OpenSea, a centralized and extremely expensive NFT Marketplace. GameStop appears to be creating a (potentionally decentralized) marketplace which makes use of Loopring's L2 tech to lower gas fees to 1/100th the cost. Currently fees are so expensive that it takes $150 to buy a $50 NFT ($100 in gas fees) on OpenSea. GameStop in partnership with Loopring would allow people to buy a $50 NFT for $50.

OpenSea was valued at $1.5B in July, today they're valued at over $13B. GameStop's marketplace with brand recognition, a cult following, and almost no gas fees will blow them out of the water. And this is just the beginning, current NFTs are more of a proof of concept.

In simple terms, an NFT is information permanently written in the blockchain. Like etching your name in stone. Let's say you buy a cell phone, if they write your name and the cell phone's serial number to the blockchain as an NFT, now you have actual proof that you own that exact phone. When you want to sell your phone, you sell it along with the NFT. The blockchain will retain your name as the original owner and then tack on the new owner's name. It's a permanent digital ledger. Governments love this too because it means they can track and tax the second hand market.

NFT tech is going to only get bigger and bigger.


Kevin O'Leary recently commented on NFTs:

"I think non-fungible tokens are going to be bigger than bitcoin. They offer so much value around authentication, inventory management and all kinds of use cases in different asset classes. I prefer NFTs tied to hard assets, physical assets; the one that I’m working on developing a white paper for is the watch industry. I’ve invested in that because we have so much fraud in watch collecting, which we can eliminate by using some very high resolution scanning of dials linked to NFTs, so that the watchmaker can identify what they made, when they made it and who owns it. I made a material investment in Jordan Fried’s company, Immutable Holdings, which owns NFT.com, which he’s launching in January, as well as WonderFi, which is a company that’s consolidating assets in the crypto space. They’re both large positions for me and I like the management teams, but they are focusing on creating value around the NFT market—curating them, creating them, managing them. There’s a lot of work going on in making these ubiquitous and very liquid so that an NFT can trade on any blockchain, whether it’s Solana, Ethereum, HBAR, whatever. These assets are going to be very big and I think 2022 is going to be the year of the NFT."

 

[Nintenboy01]

It all seems very bubbly in nature

 

[Eflow]

"GameStop shares jump 22%"

Aaaaaand it's gone. Easy come, easy go.

 

[MaXtor]

"GameStop shares jump 22%"

Aaaaaand it's gone. Easy come, easy go.

Well it wasn't an actual announcement from GameStop. WSJ claimed to have spoken with insiders which Reuters later claimed was not true and that GameStop did not respond to their request for comment. WSJ's article was regurgitated speculation from Reddit which has circulated for months, it was nothing new, nothing official. To say the least, it was odd that there was any jump in price at all, at least not due to that article; the price hike was likely more to do with options.

 

[MaXtor]

It all seems very bubbly in nature

This I agree with. The current state of NFTs are almost certainly a bubble. Buying an avatar for thousands of dollars is beyond ridiculous. I'm more interested in the tech and what it could (likely will) be used for in the future (as outlined in my first comment).

 

[Thretosix]

As I'll never go back to the store again. Congrats!

 

[Thretosix]

Their solution is actually good. They're going to compete directly with OpenSea, a centralized and extremely expensive NFT Marketplace. GameStop appears to be creating a (potentionally decentralized) marketplace which makes use of Loopring's L2 tech to lower gas fees to 1/100th the cost. Currently fees are so expensive that it takes $150 to buy a $50 NFT ($100 in gas fees) on OpenSea. GameStop in partnership with Loopring would allow people to buy a $50 NFT for $50.

OpenSea was valued at $1.5B in July, today they're valued at over $13B. GameStop's marketplace with brand recognition, a cult following, and almost no gas fees will blow them out of the water. And this is just the beginning, current NFTs are more of a proof of concept.

In simple terms, an NFT is information permanently written in the blockchain. Like etching your name in stone. Let's say you buy a cell phone, if they write your name and the cell phone's serial number to the blockchain as an NFT, now you have actual proof that you own that exact phone. When you want to sell your phone, you sell it along with the NFT. The blockchain will retain your name as the original owner and then tack on the new owner's name. It's a permanent digital ledger. Governments love this too because it means they can track and tax the second hand market.

NFT tech is going to only get bigger and bigger.


Kevin O'Leary recently commented on NFTs:

"I think non-fungible tokens are going to be bigger than bitcoin. They offer so much value around authentication, inventory management and all kinds of use cases in different asset classes. I prefer NFTs tied to hard assets, physical assets; the one that I’m working on developing a white paper for is the watch industry. I’ve invested in that because we have so much fraud in watch collecting, which we can eliminate by using some very high resolution scanning of dials linked to NFTs, so that the watchmaker can identify what they made, when they made it and who owns it. I made a material investment in Jordan Fried’s company, Immutable Holdings, which owns NFT.com, which he’s launching in January, as well as WonderFi, which is a company that’s consolidating assets in the crypto space. They’re both large positions for me and I like the management teams, but they are focusing on creating value around the NFT market—curating them, creating them, managing them. There’s a lot of work going on in making these ubiquitous and very liquid so that an NFT can trade on any blockchain, whether it’s Solana, Ethereum, HBAR, whatever. These assets are going to be very big and I think 2022 is going to be the year of the NFT."

Here's the problem. NFTs will be a fad like anything else. In a world where everyone wants to be exclusive. The rest of the world doesn't care about your NFT. They only have value if there is a demand. With humans having the attention span of a gnat these days, whatever value the NFT may have now WILL be gone. By your I don't mean you, just anyone who thinks their NFT is special and somehow a better person because of it.

 

[MaXtor]

Here's the problem. NFTs will be a fad like anything else. In a world where everyone wants to be exclusive. The rest of the world doesn't care about your NFT. They only have value if there is a demand. With humans having the attention span of a gnat these days, whatever value the NFT may have now WILL be gone. By your I don't mean you, just anyone who thinks their NFT is special and somehow a better person because of it.

The entire world is shifting away from untraceable cash and moving to fully trackable (and taxable) digital currency. China has launched their centralized digital yuan, even Jamaica launched their digital currency. El Salvador has made Bitcoin an official currency. US banks have been approved to operate their own digital currencies. Crypto, blockchain, and NFT technology will be a fundamental part of the economy and financial system. We're just in the beginning where the current use case for NFTs are ridiculous. However, the technology behind it will be interweaved with digital and physical assets, and it will be used by governments, banks and corporations alike.

It's going to be like the dot com bubble. It bankrupted most shopping sites but it made way for Ebay and Amazon. That's what we're seeing now with the current NFT bubble, most of them are going to zero, but the ones that survive will change the world. If someone is looking to invest, I suggest researching different NFT tech and marketplaces to try to predict which will survive rather than investing in a drawing of an ape in a space helmet.

 

[McMurdeR]

Their solution is actually good. They're going to compete directly with OpenSea, a centralized and extremely expensive NFT Marketplace. GameStop appears to be creating a (potentionally decentralized) marketplace which makes use of Loopring's L2 tech to lower gas fees to 1/100th the cost. Currently fees are so expensive that it takes $150 to buy a $50 NFT ($100 in gas fees) on OpenSea. GameStop in partnership with Loopring would allow people to buy a $50 NFT for $50.

OpenSea was valued at $1.5B in July, today they're valued at over $13B. GameStop's marketplace with brand recognition, a cult following, and almost no gas fees will blow them out of the water. And this is just the beginning, current NFTs are more of a proof of concept.

In simple terms, an NFT is information permanently written in the blockchain. Like etching your name in stone. Let's say you buy a cell phone, if they write your name and the cell phone's serial number to the blockchain as an NFT, now you have actual proof that you own that exact phone. When you want to sell your phone, you sell it along with the NFT. The blockchain will retain your name as the original owner and then tack on the new owner's name. It's a permanent digital ledger. Governments love this too because it means they can track and tax the second hand market.

NFT tech is going to only get bigger and bigger.


Kevin O'Leary recently commented on NFTs:

"I think non-fungible tokens are going to be bigger than bitcoin. They offer so much value around authentication, inventory management and all kinds of use cases in different asset classes. I prefer NFTs tied to hard assets, physical assets; the one that I’m working on developing a white paper for is the watch industry. I’ve invested in that because we have so much fraud in watch collecting, which we can eliminate by using some very high resolution scanning of dials linked to NFTs, so that the watchmaker can identify what they made, when they made it and who owns it. I made a material investment in Jordan Fried’s company, Immutable Holdings, which owns NFT.com, which he’s launching in January, as well as WonderFi, which is a company that’s consolidating assets in the crypto space. They’re both large positions for me and I like the management teams, but they are focusing on creating value around the NFT market—curating them, creating them, managing them. There’s a lot of work going on in making these ubiquitous and very liquid so that an NFT can trade on any blockchain, whether it’s Solana, Ethereum, HBAR, whatever. These assets are going to be very big and I think 2022 is going to be the year of the NFT."

NFTs tied to hard assets are a facinating innovation. NFTs tied to soft duplicatable objects are unbelievably cynical.

 

[Satish Mallya]

IDK why nobody else seems to be spotting the obvious use case of software licensing.

They're quite possibly building a publishing platform with NFT infrastructure for licensing.

Remember, they sell video games for a living.

 

[Danny101]

The entire world is shifting away from untraceable cash and moving to fully trackable (and taxable) digital currency. China has launched their centralized digital yuan, even Jamaica launched their digital currency. El Salvador has made Bitcoin an official currency. US banks have been approved to operate their own digital currencies. Crypto, blockchain, and NFT technology will be a fundamental part of the economy and financial system. We're just in the beginning where the current use case for NFTs are ridiculous. However, the technology behind it will be interweaved with digital and physical assets, and it will be used by governments, banks and corporations alike.

It's going to be like the dot com bubble. It bankrupted most shopping sites but it made way for Ebay and Amazon. That's what we're seeing now with the current NFT bubble, most of them are going to zero, but the ones that survive will change the world. If someone is looking to invest, I suggest researching different NFT tech and marketplaces to try to predict which will survive rather than investing in a drawing of an ape in a space helmet.

NFT's and digital currency is coming whether anyone likes it or not. What needs to be done is to get ahead of it and make sure it doesn't become just another "weapon" of tyrannical dictators analogous to "cancel culture". . Something that can't be used to manipulate the economy of supply and demand creating false bubbles, inflations, and deflations. There's a lot of promise as well as concerns. Welcome to Sci-Fi World. Hopefully, we can still hold off an apocalypse and some future dystopian society. Vetting is at a new level. Social engineering is a given. Hopefully, that isn't relegated to the 1%, but the whole of society and everyone gets to play.

 

[Thretosix]

The entire world is shifting away from untraceable cash and moving to fully trackable (and taxable) digital currency. China has launched their centralized digital yuan, even Jamaica launched their digital currency. El Salvador has made Bitcoin an official currency. US banks have been approved to operate their own digital currencies. Crypto, blockchain, and NFT technology will be a fundamental part of the economy and financial system. We're just in the beginning where the current use case for NFTs are ridiculous. However, the technology behind it will be interweaved with digital and physical assets, and it will be used by governments, banks and corporations alike.

It's going to be like the dot com bubble. It bankrupted most shopping sites but it made way for Ebay and Amazon. That's what we're seeing now with the current NFT bubble, most of them are going to zero, but the ones that survive will change the world. If someone is looking to invest, I suggest researching different NFT tech and marketplaces to try to predict which will survive rather than investing in a drawing of an ape in a space helmet.

Well I find all NFTs to have zero value. So I'm not losing out.