After GameStop raised over $500 million earlier this year by selling off some of its surprisingly valuable shares, it looks like the company has decided to invest some of that money back into a program involving NFTs. GameStop quietly launched the GameStop NFT homepage today, which prominently links to an Ethereum address, and also appears to involve a recruitment drive.
The page doesn’t include much information other than the Ethereum link, and GameStop doesn’t appear to have prepared a media release about the launch either. The page is headlined “change the game,” followed by a graphic reading: “Power to the players. Power to the creators. Power to the collectors.”
The rest of the website is devoted to recruitment, with a callout to “exceptional engineers (solidity, react, python), designers, gamers, marketers, and community leaders,” to join the new NFT-focused team.
The Ethereum page hides a number of other tidbits, including a smart contract headed by the phrase “Game On Anon,” and a dedicated token called GME.
A small game has also been found hidden in the GameStop NFT homepage–titled “runner” in the page’s URL, it’s a simple re-skin of Google Chrome’s Dinosaur Game. The game features a number of references to the users of r/WallStreetBets, who have been credited with GameStop’s unexpected stock rally, including rocket ships, the moon, and the Snazzy Bananya–a GameStop exclusive plush toy that has become popular with WallStreetBets users. The hidden game is GameStop’s most overt acknowledgement of its unusual Reddit-based fanbase to date.
It’s unclear as yet what GameStop will be using NFTs for, though people have speculated that they could be used for selling used games or in-game items. The stealth reveal has had a positive impact on the company’s share price, however, pushing it above $200 for the first time since March. GameStop’s decsion to go with Ethereum may not be the best news for gamers, however, with Ethereum mining a contributing factor to ongoing parts shortages in the industry, as well as the rising costs of graphics cards across the board.
