GameStop Hopes Crypto And NFTs Will Offset A $380 Million Loss Last Year
Betting on NFTs doesn’t seem like the smartest of moves.
You Are Reading :GameStop Hopes Crypto And NFTs Will Offset A $380 Million Loss Last Year
A year after being the center of a bizarre stock run, GameStop is back to posting its usual massive losses as gamers everywhere turn away from physical media and towards digital downloads. GameStop CEO Matt Furlong recently gave his end-of-year report to investors and reporters where he noted that the company lost a lot of money in fiscal year 2021.
“The combination of supply chain issues and the omicron variant had a sizable impact on this past year’s holiday season,” Furlong said (as reported by GameSpot). “We made a conscious decision to lean in and absorb higher costs in order to meet customer demand. We felt, and continue to feel, that investing in our customers and rebuilding our brand loyalty right now is in the company’s best interest over the long term.”
That loss amounted to $381 million, by the way, and although you can blame supply chain and pandemic pressures for 2021, that excuse isn’t going to last into 2022 and 2023 even if it remains true.
To help offset those losses, Furlong said that GameStop is making a number of internal changes. First, the company has cut ties with several external consultants that were costing GameStop “millions” annually. Second, GameStop continues its transformation into a “customer-obsessed technology company; one that has wider offerings, more competitive pricing, faster shopping, stronger customer service, and an easier shopping experience.”
And third, GameStop is continuing to pivot hard into crypto and NFTs. The company announced the move last spring by opening an NFT-focused homepage with a cat-bananas as its mascot, and just recently GameStop set up a $100 million fund with Immutable to help game devs break into the NFT space.
However, that $100 million bet isn’t looking so hot these days. The vicious public backlash against crypto and NFTs has resulted in trading volume dropping 80% on OpenSea, the largest NFT trading website, and the average sale price has dropped by almost half since its peak last November.
Considering NFTs are still awful for the environment and don’t actually add anything to video games themselves, maybe GameStop should reconsider where it puts its dwindling cash reserves.
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/gamestop-380-million-loss-2021-nft-crypto/