The Sandbox, which is a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has announced that “PwC Hong Kong has acquired a LAND site in The Sandbox metaverse”.
Animoca Brands, which was founded in January 2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim, and its various subsidiaries “develop and publish a broad portfolio of blockchain games, traditional games, and other products, many of which are based on popular global brands, such as Formula 1®, Disney, WWE, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Doraemon. Animoca Brands is also a prolific investor with over 100 investments in NFT-related blockchain companies, including Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity), Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), OpenSea, Harmony, Bitski, and Alien Worlds.”
Here is how Binance Research described The Sandbox back in August 2020:
“The Sandbox is a virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain, where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences… The SAND token is an ERC-20 utility token that is used for value transfers as well as staking and governance… Players can create digital assets in the form of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), upload them to the marketplace, and integrate into games with Game Maker.“
And here is the how The Sandbox team describes SAND and LAND:
“SAND is the utility token used throughout The Sandbox ecosystem as the basis for transactions and interactions. It is an ERC-20 utility token built on the Ethereum blockchain. There is a finite supply of 3,000,000,000 SAND.“
“The Sandbox Metaverse is made up of LANDS, that are parts of the world, owned by players to create and monetize experiences. There will only ever be 166,464 LANDS available, which can be used to host games, build multiplayer experiences, create housing, or offer social experiences to the community.“
According to data from Ethereum-powered NFT marketplace OpenSea, currently (as of 15:36 UTC on Decemebr 25), the cheapest LAND you can buy in the The Sandbox metaverse is ETH 2.93.
According to a press release issued by Animoca Brands on Thursday (December 23), William Gee, Partner at PwC Hong Kong, had this to say:
“The Metaverse offers new possibilities for organisations to create value through innovative business models, as well as introducing new ways to engage with their customers and communities. We will leverage our expertise to advise clients who wish to embrace the Metaverse on the full range of challenges presented by this emerging global digital phenomenon.”
And Sebastien Borget, COO of The Sandbox, stated:
“The metaverse is open for business. We welcome PwC Hong Kong to experience how The Sandbox fosters new immersive experiences and ways for brands to connect with customers. It’s an exciting time – and PwC is at the forefront of this emerging frontier.“
On November 2, The Sandbox announced that it managed to raise $93 million in its latest funding round, which was led by SoftBank Group’s second venture capital fund, Vision Fund 2.
A Reuters report published on November 2 said that this latest funding round “came a little over a year after its last round, as the company saw fast growth in monthly active users and crossed $144 million in transaction volume on the platform.” It also mentioned that this was the first time that Vision Fund 2, which might be the world’s largest technology-focused venture capital fund, had invested in “a company that issues its own cryptocurrency.”
The list of celebrities and brands that The Sandbox has partnered with includes Snoop Dogg, South China Morning Post, Hell’s Kitchen, and Atari.
Sebastien Borget, Co-Founer and CEO of The Sandbox told Reuters in an interview:
“We are creating this open metaverse. We are positioning the Sandbox against those giant tech companies who are claiming the metaverse to be theirs, offering an alternative where users are first.“
On the same day, The Sandbox tweeted that this investment round will help it scale up its “growth strategy, operations, and player acquisition” in The Sandbox’s ecosystem “while sending a clear statement that the world’s most innovative fund believes in Web3 and decentralization as the next major trend.”
The company went on to say that its new strategic partners, such as Galaxy Interactive, will also “benefit The Sandbox’s global reach and expand the network of brands, IPs, and gaming studios interested in entering an open metaverse focused on a player-owned economy and UGC.”
The Sandbox also highlighted its success in the world of virtual real estate:
Finally, the firm pointed out that it rewards creators on its platform with “95% revenue share” and “reinvesting 50% of all $SAND revenue streams into the Foundation, now worth $100M+, which gives grants to artists, creators and players.”
Disclaimer
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