Animoca Brands adds multiple partners to The Sandbox metaverse, launches LAND sale

Blockchain game developer Animoca Brands has announced its decentralised social metaverse platform The Sandbox has attracted multiple strategic gaming and Silicon Valley investors to its growing list of partners.

The new partners acquiring LAND non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the virtual world have been revealed to include crypto projects Nifty Gateway, 21x and Gemini, as well as venture capital and investment partners such as Galaxy Interactive, Craft Ventures co-founder Bill Lee (an early investor in Cloud9, Coinbase and Tesla), PayPal co-founder Ken Howery, serial entrepreneur Sundeep Madra and Gemini Frontier Fund, founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

Using the same technology as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, NFTs are blockchain-verified digital files that allow the holder to own digital assets and prove their authenticity.

LAND is a digital piece of real estate in The Sandbox metaverse which players can populate with games and assets.

LAND sale to launch this week

To celebrate the new LAND owners, The Sandbox will be launching a new LAND sale this Wednesday which will allow players to buy choice spots near these partners.

“Each purchasable LAND will include exclusive premium NFTs and have the possibility to host events, gaming experiences, or social hubs when the game is released later in 2021,” Animoca Brands said.

The long list of new partners also includes Uken Games chief executive officer Chris Ye, Alex Reece, Redemption Games founder Michael Witz, Edward Saatchi and Patricio Fuks.

Even heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold nabbed a piece of real estate in the metaverse.

“As a vibrant, growing NFT-based gaming metaverse, The Sandbox is attracting strong and diverse new partners each day, from gaming studios to IP brands to artists to celebrities to visionary entrepreneurs to technology companies,” The Sandbox chief operating officer and co-founder Sebastien Borget said.

“We’re shaping our virtual world to be an experience-rich place where partners can plant a flag with virtual destination experiences on their LANDS in a powerful new entertainment community where creators, players and brands can build and grow alongside each other,” he added.

The Sandbox has already sold 45% of more than 166,000 total LAND NFTs, releasing them in successive waves that usually sell out in seconds. Existing LAND owners include Binance, CoinCheck, Metakovan, Pranksy, Socios and CoinMarketCap.

The virtual world has also secured over 60 partnerships including The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, CryptoKitties and Shaun the Sheep “to build a fun, creative ‘play-to-earn’ platform that offers virtual worlds and game experiences owned and created by players”.

This play-to-earn model means players can own, trade, transfer or resell anything they collect in the game.

Beta launch of The Sandbox’s NFT marketplace

The new partnerships follow the beta launch of The Sandbox’s NFT marketplace, which gives anyone the opportunity to earn SAND – the platform’s utility token – by monetising voxel-based NFT creations created with the dedicated software VoxEdit.

Each NFT can be used inside the game platform in the future or used to build custom game experiences.

LAND NFTs are the main gateway to publishing games in The Sandbox as the platform prepares for opening its first public beta for players later this year.

According to Animoca Brands, The Sandbox is on track to be a “prime entertainment destination where brands, IPs and celebrities can engage with their fans and offer virtual experiences including games, live performances, and social experiences”.

Brands will co-exist through neighbouring LANDs and be able to function as digital concert arenas, theme parks, or malls that users of The Sandbox can visit and experience by themselves or with friends.

In addition to the LAND sale on The Sandbox, Animoca Brands is kicking off a track sale tomorrow on F1 Delta Time, its official Formula1 blockchain based game.