GameStop
Image: Nintendo Life

GameStop has announced that it has "decided to wind down" its NFT marketplace after initially launching in July 2022.

As reported by Decrypt (thanks, VGC), users will be unable to buy, sell, or create NFTs as of February 2nd, 2024, with GameStop citing the "continuing regulatory uncertainty of the crypto space" as its reasoning for the closure.

It's a big step in the firm moving away from crypto after previously committing heavily to the concept. In 2023, continuing falling revenue and a plummeting share price led to the termination of CEO Matthew Furlong. Shortly afterward, GameStop ended support of its cryptocurrency wallet.

It certainly seems to be yet another clear indication that NFTs are on their way out. However, while some companies such as Sega are certainly cooling on the concept, others - including Square Enix and even The Pokémon Company - may still be invested.

As a reminder, NFTs, short for 'non-fungible tokens', are digital identifiers stored via blockchains that effectively allow users to claim full ownership of digital content. The technology saw a huge boom in popularity during 2020 and 2021, though a report in 2023 indicated that around 95% of NFTs had a market value of zero, rendering them effectively useless. Shame.

What do you make of GameStop's decision regarding NFTs? Is it the right move? Let us know your thoughts with a comment down below.

[source decrypt.co, via videogameschronicle.com]