“The future is already here”– Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca. Animoca Brands, a Hong-Kong based blockchain game developer and the creator of The Sandbox, achieved a valuation of $2.2 billion in October 2021. This came after the developer pulled in fresh capital from investors including Ubisoft Entertainment. The company made its name with play-to-earn blockchain games that allow players to collect and trade NFTs.
Animoca’s valuation serves to highlight the surging popularity of NFTs. In the third quarter, the trading volume for NFTs rose to $10.7 billion, an increase of 704% on the last quarter!
“With the backing of our new strategic investors, Animoca Brands will continue to advance blockchain in gaming—and beyond—to introduce billions of gamers and internet users to true digital ownership.” – Yat Siu.
What is The Sandbox?
Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Sandbox is one of Animoca’s most popular games. Players can create and monetize their gaming experiences using NFTs and the SAND token (the platform’s native currency). The game features three main components: the Voxedit 3D art animation software for building NFT game assets, the Marketplace for buying and selling NFT assets, and the Game Maker tool for creating in-game experiences.
$SAND is the token that enables transactions within The Sandbox. This Ethereum cryptocurrency allows users to access the game, buy and sell in-game assets, partake in governance, earn a passive income through staking and liquidity, and much more.
Play-To-Earn
Play-to-Earn is a key component of The Sandbox metaverse, offering completely new and revolutionary functionality for NFTs. Players can not only enjoy interacting with the virtual world but they can also get rewarded through it. Here are just a few ways players can earn in The Sandbox:
Create & sell in-game assets
Players can create a game asset, such as a dragon, turn it into a non-fungible token (NFT) and sell it on the marketplace! The marketplace allows millions of players to create, buy and sell digital assets. And, as assets are published to the Ethereum blockchain, players get proof of ownership and full monetization.
Create & sell games
Players can also create 3D games for free, with no coding knowledge required! Players can then monetize their games and sell them on Sandbox’s NFT marketplace!
Rent or sell land
Like in Decentraland, players can also buy digital pieces of land. A total of 166,464 LANDS will ever be available. LAND is a finite commodity that is available at the lowest price for early players. Over time, the sale time will increase, and players can choose to sell their LAND at a profit.
Sandbox landowners can earn income by charging other players (in SAND) to visit their LAND, play their games, go to an event they’re hosting, or even rent their land. Players can even sell their LAND at a profit after customizing it.
Complete quests & earn tokens
Players can even earn SAND tokens or other NFTs by completing quests in one or many of the gaming experiences inside The Sandbox. And, since you then own the SAND of NFTs, you can then choose to keep them or sell them to other players.
