The gaming retailer announced in a statement on Sept. 7 that the new partnership will bring GameStop consumers into the FTX ecosystem, including its marketplaces for digital assets. The retailer has also become FTX's preferred retail partner in the United States.
As part of the partnership, certain GameStop store outlets will sell FTX gift cards. As of August 31, there were 2,950 GameStop outlets in the US.
During the company's second-quarter earnings call, GameStop CEO Matt Furlong stated that the new partnership aims to create something unique in the retail market.
The partnership we recently announced with FTX is the result of our commerce and blockchain teams working together to create something unique in the retail market.
In their announcement, GameStop did not disclose the financial details of the deal. Additionally, the announcement of the new partnership coincided with the release of GameStop's financial results for the quarter ending July 30, 2022.
Despite reporting a roughly 4% fall in net sales to $1.14 billion in the quarter, GameStop shares surged over 12% in after-hours trading following the news, reaching $26.84 per share.
GameStop has significantly increased its Web3 efforts this year, with the introduction of an NFT and Web3 gaming business in January. Furthermore, on July 11 the company debut its NFT marketplace in collaboration with Ethereum (ETH) scaling solution Immutable X.
Furlong noted during the earnings call the launch of its marketplace supports GameStop's long-term growth in the cryptocurrency, NFT, and Web3 gaming sectors, which they believe will become increasingly essential for players and collectors.
The marketplace is an Ethereum Layer 2-based non-custodial marketplace that allows users to link their own digital asset wallets, such as the recently announced GameStop Wallet.
GameStop reported that sales attributable to digital collectibles were $223.2 million in the third quarter, reflecting a roughly 26% increase over the prior year's period sales of $177.2 million.
Since its inception, the marketplace has seen a total volume of $21.26 million traded on it, according to DappRadar. The marketplace's activity has dropped drastically since its introduction, with only $922,350 worth of transactions occurring on the marketplace in the last seven days.
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