The Immutable X NFT marketplace transaction is expected to earn the company $150 million in IMX tokens following “achievement of certain milestones,” according to the firm.
After sustaining a net loss of $147.5 million in Q4 2021, the much-loved retail video GameStop chain GameStop (GME) is looking forward to its long-awaited NFT marketplace and Web3 gaming unit.
GameStop quietly built a barebones NFT website in mid-2021 but has significantly increased its efforts this year after announcing an NFT and Web3 gaming division in January and announcing a major partnership with Ethereum (ETH) scaling solution Immutable X to launch an NFT marketplace the following month.
GameStop announced in its Q4 results, which ended on January 29 and were released on March 17, that it plans to launch its NFT marketplace by the end of Q2 2022.
The company reportedly stated that the Immutable X deal will fetch it $150 million in IMX tokens upon the “achievement of certain milestones” and that it has employed “dozens of additional individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, e-commerce and technology, product refurbishment, and operations.”
GameStop’s net loss of $147.5 million is 83 percent higher than the year before, and its loss of $1.94 per share is far higher than Wall Street’s $0.84 earnings per share estimate.
The publication of GameStop’s Q4 financials looks to have had a substantial impact on the price of GME, with the price dropping 7.31 percent to $81.29 at the time of writing. Despite positive developments in its Web3 initiatives, GME has been on a strong downward trend this year, with the stock plunging more than 40% since January.
If you dig a little deeper into the report, you’ll find that GameStop made $2.254 billion in sales last quarter, increasing from $2.122 billion the year before. The $1.87 billion costs of sales were a major stumbling block for the latest figure, while selling, general, and administrative expenses totaled $538.9 million.
The company was able to generate nearly $1.67 billion in Capital, which was enough to pay off “all of the Company’s long-term debt, with the exception of a $44.6 million low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.”
Despite a bearish trend in the NFT market over the last couple of months, GameStop’s partner Immutable X has grown from strength to strength. On March 8, the company announced a $200 million Series C fundraising round at a $2 billion valuation, sending IMX’s price up over 50% in 24 hours to around $1.78. The price has since retraced to roughly $1.54.
