Gaming retailer GameStop is reportedly forming an alliance with US-based crypto exchange FTX US to open crypto up to extra clients and collaborate on online marketing projects. 

Specifically, the gaming retailer reportedly claimed that the freshly established alliance will open GameStop’s clients up to the FTX ecosystem, including its marketplaces for digital assets, while also seeing the retailer become FTX’s “preferred retail partner in the United States.”

The collaboration will also have particular GameStop retail stores carry FTX gift cards. As of Aug. 31, a total of 2,970 GameStop stores throughout America are established.

“The deal we just announced with FTX is a by-product of our commerce and blockchain team, working hand-in-hand together to establish something unique in the retail world”, GameStop CEO Matt Furlong revealed via the firm’s Q2 earnings that new deal has a primary goal of forming something “unique” in the retail sphere. 

Updates of the new collaboration surfaced on the similar day that GameStop rolled out its financial outcomes for the quarter that ended July 30 this year.

Despite GameStop reporting an approximate 4% plummet in net sales to $1.14 billion in the quarter, shares in GameStop still witnessed a surge of around 12% in after-hours trading following the news, reaching $26.84 per share.

GameStop has put in extensive efforts to amplify its Web3 initiatives in 2022, following the revelation of a nonfungible token (NFT) and Web3 gaming division in January, together with the introduction of its NFT marketplace on July 11 via an alliance with Ethereum scaling solution Immutable X.

Furlong noted during the earnings call that the launch of its marketplace “supports GameStop’s pursuit of long-term growth in the cryptocurrency, NFT and Web3 gaming verticals,” which they expect to be increasingly important for gamers and collectors.