GameStop’s NFT market has arrived just in time for a crypto market crash

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

The company is moving ahead with the launch of its own NFT marketplace, which is currently open in a public alpha phase.

You can use the platform to buy and sell. More than 53,000 NFTs are listed on the marketplace, and there are more than 200 collections you can peruse. In just a few minutes of looking at the art, I have already seen some weird cat and monkey themed collections. You can connect the newly-launched GameStop wallet to manage your digital assets, but you can also use other options. Interested creators will need to apply if they want to make an NFT on the platform.

In a press release, the company said it plans to "expandFunctionality" into areas like Web3 gaming. Immutable X, a platform that is used by some NFT games, will soon be supported by GameStop. A $100 million grant program has been launched.

The gaming retailer first announced in February that it planned to open a marketplace for NFTs, but over the past few weeks, sales of NFTs have fallen. Even though it has had to lay off staff in an attempt to weather the storm, GameStop is moving ahead with its plans. In a memo to employees about the layoffs, CEO Matt Furlong mentioned the company'sBlockchain group in the very, and it seems as if they're an important part of the company'sfuture.