Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP (Getty Images)
GameStop has officially plunged headlong into the Web3 viper nest with a new app release, though it’s hard to tell if the planned population of gamers and game developers will take over the company in its belated, headlong plunge into the crypto sphere.
The company announced in a succinct press release on Monday that its new wallet will allow “gamers” to store, send and receive cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens across different apps from their web browsers. The company says “betaWallet uses a “self-custodial” Ethereum wallet, meaning users have access to their assets across their accounts via a 12-word key.
The new wallet allows ETH, NFTs and ERC20 tokens. A new app is available on the Chrome Web Store that aims to allow users to trade on GameStop’s upcoming NFT marketplace, which is slated for release this July. in one tweet, GameStop said an iOS version of the app would be available “soon.” This new functionality follows several tweets last week by GameStop reading “What the internet has done for communication, blockchains are doing for value”.
GameStop has been pushing this crypto escapade hard, but the subdued The launch of this new product makes it seem more like a hedged bet than an all-in on crypto. While crypto trading platforms like FTX have expanded to include traditional stock trading, GameStop seems to be rather late. But perhaps the company is used to operating five years behind the times. This is the same company that became better known for being the end of the meme stock joke, and without that notoriety boost, the company would likely be far more irrelevant today than it is right now.
Ethereum is not known to be cheap, and GameStop has had to work at multiple levels to bring down the overall “gas fees” that users pay to process transactions on the blockchain. It uses Loopring to execute transactions on Ethereum Layer 2, which the company says means cheaper gas prices than Layer 1. When the company first announced its NFT marketplace, it included a $100 million grant in partnership with the Immutable X layer-2 protocol bring NFT train.
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But they’re not the only company looking to get into a technology that’s currently in decline. Tech giant Meta keeps hitting obstacles while trying to create its own form of cryptocurrency. And as more companies that have been sitting on the brink of irrelevance dip their toes into crypto, it seems the market could easily become saturated.
It is an open question whether a gamer-focused wallet will be used by a community that is very divided on the “benefits” of Web3. When STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl developer GSC Game World announced plans to allow people to upload themselves into the game as NFTs, many fans rebelled. Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint added an NFT helmet, but only if you’ve played over 600 hours. Players weren’t huge fans of it either, despite reports of confused corporate bigwigs.
It’s not exactly a good time to enter the crypto space. Last week was crypto’s lowest market value since July 2021, and NFT-based games were not spared. The paid Axie Infinity, whose NFT Pokémon-like creatures use breeding potions that are also NFTs, has seen its price drop.
That’s not to say other game makers haven’t touted blockchain technology as the “future of gaming.” However, many developers are much more skeptical.