GameStop, Telos Team Up to Build Web3 Game Launcher

GameStop has been dabbling in Web3 initiatives since at least January 2022

article-image

Zoa.Arts/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

GameStop has partnered with the Telos Foundation to pilot a new Web3 game launcher called GameStop Playr. 

“GameStop Playr is marketing/distributing Web3 games that are built using Telos’ blockchain technology,” Telos Chief Marketing Officer Peter Nguyen told Blockworks. 

At present, GameStop Playr hasn’t yet launched and no compatible games have been announced, but interested parties can sign up for a waitlist.

GameStop, long known as a brick and mortar game retailer, pivoted to crypto a year after the infamous r/wallstreetbets short squeeze sent its stock skyrocketing in January 2021. In January 2022, GameStop launched an NFT and crypto division, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. 

Just over a year later, it partnered with Immutable X to launch its own NFT marketplace, which reached $1 million in trading volume in its first 24 hours.

For now, games compatible on the Telos blockchain will be able to be distributed via the GameStop Playr, according to a statement from Telos.

Some games that are compatible or “close to fully integrated” on the Telos blockchain include gambling platforms such as W3Poker and OwlDAO, as well as a mobile game called Monkey Empire.

However, none of these games are guaranteed to be available through GameStop Playr, Nguyen noted. 

Head of business development at the Telos Foundation, AJ Dinger, said this partnership will drive new customers into the Web3 gaming space. 

“By combining GameStop Playr with Web3 games utilizing Telos’ high performance blockchain infrastructure, we can break down many of the barriers currently deterring Web2 players from embracing Web3,” Dinger said in a statement. 

Shares of GameStop (GME) were relatively unchanged by the news.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Anticipating an economic downturn, venture firms may be less likely to invest

article-image

Trump’s tariffs may have potentially significant impacts on GDP, household spending and food prices — if they hold

article-image

The Binance-affiliated stablecoin lost about $200M of market capitalization

article-image

How the Bitcoin conversation has evolved since the price was less than $1

article-image

The platform also rolled out 13 tokenized funds for institutions on the Connect platform

article-image

The company’s expanded lineup introduces new ETF products, as more and more issuers get into crypto funds