The Alpha:

• Following the July launch ofits very own NFT marketplace, brick-and-mortar gaming retailer GameStop is doubling down on its Web3 strategy ina new partnershipwith the crypto exchange platform FTX.
• The partnership aims to funnel GameStop’s growing Web3-savvy customer base toward FTX’s suite of Web3 services, according to GameStop’s official statement — crucially, FTX has anNFT marketplaceof its own.
• GameStop also hopes to take this partnership IRL by providing FTX gift cards at select physical branches of the gaming store.

Why it matters

Despite the middling and sometimesoverwhelmingly negativereception of GameStop’sNFT marketplace, the gaming retailer’s biggest Web3 foray to date has helped it maintain relevance in the face ofan industry-wide shifttowards digital game marketplaces. PC gamers understand this shift deeply — an overwhelming majority of laptops and pre-built desktop PCshave omitted the inclusion of disk drivesfor years. Preceding the launch of GameStop’s NFT marketplace was the release of its ownnon-custodial crypto wallet, which was the first step in its strategy to onboard its customers to Web3.

But how well has GameStop’s Web3 gamble paid off? The first few days of GameStop’s NFT marketplace saw it rake inmore than $7 million in revenue. That figure has ballooned to more than$20 millionas of writing. However, sales have seen a recent slump in the marketplace, including a recent 24-hour period that saw the NFT marketplace accrue a mere $4,000 in sales volume, according toaCointelegraphreportfrom late August.

What’s next

Despite how Web3 technologies — and NFTs in particular — havelong drawn the ire of the mainstream gaming community, gaming is widely regarded asthe most likely avenueto onboard the wider public into all thingsblockchain.

With theblockchain gaming industry currentlyin flux regarding the discussion on play-to-earn (P2E) vs. play and earn, it might be up tomore established gaming playersto handle onboarding new users into the Web3 space. With GameStop’s continued commitment to building out its Web3 infrastructures, signs point to that feeling remaining unchanged — at least amongst the gaming retailer’s decision-makers.