GameStop
GameSto
The video game retailer has now launched an NFT marketplace which on the surface, appears to have practically no real ties to video games at all. In a web3 utopia, you might have imagined GameStop doing deals with major video game brands and forming partnerships to sell licensed IPs of big name video game icons on its store. Own your own unique image of Mario, Master Chief or Lara Croft!
We do not live in that world. Mainstream video game companies have avoided or actively fled from NFTs, a market that has crashed in recent months to the point where launching a dedicated NFT marketplace days after laying off a number of employees seems ill-advised. I have seen zero recognizable gaming characters on board for this project. But here we are.
The most generous way you can describe GameStop’s NFT marketplace is as an OpenSea knockoff with generally worse artwork. While NFTs have rarely been a shining beacon for artistic prowess, especially some of the most popular collections like Bored Apes and Cryptopunks, there are some truly…bleak things on display in GameStop’s store.
Oh no
As for what’s selling, and for how much, it’s too early to say. There are certainly some sky-high prices listed, as owners try to convince people a GIF of an unlicensed running Game Boy is worth $448,000, but a lot of what I’m seeing appears to be mostly just meme price posting, attempts to sell things for 42 eth, 69 eth, or 420.69 eth. The highest prices I’ve been able to find listed are another running Game Boy and a weed-themed NFT, both on sale for 5000 eth, or $5.3 million. One good thing about this listing system is that you can see what price both were purchased for around 12 hours ago, $53 and $32 respectively.
why
This is…nothing. NFTs have been on the way out for some time now and GameStop launching a worse version of OpenSea with a bunch of memers running around listing garbage art JPEGs for millions of dollars feels like the final shape of this web3 mess. Nothing of value is being created here, though I do know some actual people that GameStop fired this week on the back of chasing this web3 pipe dream.
I can never count out GameStop or forecast its ultimate doom because they have survived at least a half dozen extinction level events already. But this latest chapter may be its saddest one yet, and I’m not looking forward to the next one after this.
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