GameStop reportedly is developing a market for in-game NFT items

Next Ubisoft and Square Enix, GameStop is clearly the latest player in the video game industry to see NFT as a way to increase its profitability. According to , the company has hired nearly twenty people as part of a newly formed cryptocurrency department. The unit is reportedly building an online marketplace to buy, sell and trade NFTs in in-game items such as cosmetics. The hub could be launched as soon as possible later this year. In addition, the department is reportedly close to partnering with two companies to jointly invest in games that use blockchain and NFT technologies. It is said that GameStop is planning a partnership with a dozen companies in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Development news sent value to GameStop , compared to $ 131.01, in the aftermarket. According to The Journal, GameStop leaders see NFT as a way for the company to return to profitability, but it is unclear whether the emerging technology has a place in video games.

Many of the recent attempts by some developers and publishers to include digital tokens in their titles have been met with open hostility. Ubisoft, for example, became a when it announced its Quartz NFT platform. It also seems that the negative attention was not worth it for Ubisoft, with the recent Eurogamer a report claiming the company had of 21 December. But despite all the negative reactions, Ubisoft and others seem carefree. In one , Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reportedly linked the initial reaction to NFT to earlier outrage over trends such as microtransactions and loot boxes. The implication here seems to be that people will eventually embrace the technology.