Immutable shuts down its NFT marketplace to focus on ecosystem expansion through partnerships
The blockchain company Immutable, specializing in games and NFTs, has announced the closure of its NFT marketplace in order to concentrate on expanding its ecosystem through partnerships.
The team states that this decision is aimed at supporting existing marketplaces instead of directly competing with them. Immutable has declared that operations of the marketplace will be gradually halted starting from August 13th.
Starting from September 27th, 2024, market.immutable.com will be redirected to showcase the marketplaces within our ecosystem.
SUPPORT FOR PARTNER MARKETPLACES
Since its launch, the Immutable NFT marketplace has been designed to showcase the features of their software development kit (SDK). However, the company has observed the growth of projects utilizing this technology. As a result, Immutable has shared the following statement:
As a company, rather than competing, we prefer to support these marketplaces and witness the growth of the Immutable ecosystem.
The community is encouraged to explore the various marketplaces available within this ecosystem.
RETENTION OF USER ASSETS
Immutable has reassured users of its NFT marketplace that their assets will remain available on the blockchain. These assets are linked to users’ wallet addresses and will remain accessible regardless of the marketplace or game used.
In addition, the Immutable marketplace utilizes a global order book, allowing users to see the same buy or sell listings on all platforms using this order book. Users simply need to connect their wallet to view existing listings on any marketplace.
CONTEXT OF DECLINING NFT SALES VOLUMES
This announcement comes in the context of a continued decline in NFT sales volumes. In the second quarter of 2024, NFT sales volume dropped by 45% compared to the previous quarter, which was already dangerously low.
Data shows that in the first quarter of 2024, digital collection sales reached $4.1 billion, a surge compared to the last quarter of 2023. However, this upward momentum was not sustained. In the second quarter of 2024, NFT sales volume was limited to $2.24 billion, the lowest quarterly level since the third quarter of 2023.
