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- The Sandbox recently completed its first Alpha test period with a special Alpha Pass NFT and has received positive feedback. Plans to launch more test periods in upcoming months.
- The Sandbox is a metaverse game based on Ethereum and revolves around experiences of owning virtual lands, building on them, and NFT collection. The metaverse has also been joined by numerous brands and celebrities that might host events inside.
- The team behind Sandbox plans to migrate onto Polygon to ensure players get minimum transaction fees while avoiding network congestion.
With Facebook stepping into the metaverse and escalating interests in cryptocurrencies have pushed the investments in digital lands to grow, which have constantly shown an uptrend throughout the year. Yet, metaverse games like Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and Sandbox, which work on Ethereum, have been selling virtual lands from the time before the metaverse hype. If investing thousands of dollars in virtual lands with no physical existence still seems like a future thing, picture the chaos when Sandbox first served these lands for the first time in 2019. Since the Land NFTs and SAND token have become more valuable, the early investors are now earning from increased worths.
The co-founder and COO of Sandbox, Sebastien Borget, in an exclusive interview with decrypt.co, explained that he is ensuring to observe the idea of his team about more individuals adopting user-customizable community-owned online game world. Since the game is not yet entirely open for all, players are simply purchasing and selling virtual lands to build on them.
The Sandbox Interactions
The Sandbox is a bit similar to Minecraft, serving blocks in virtual playgrounds to play with, the significant differentiation lies in owning digital assets like owning pieces of land on a shared map and building different game experiences. Every virtual asset comes in the form of NFT, which players can own, sell or transfer if they prefer. Owning land in the virtual world is not just for a fun game experience, but it also lets players build NFT/art galleries, community hangouts, and interactive games, which can be monetized too. These virtual assets could also be rented for a fee to host events or showcase something.
This metaverse also attracts brands and celebrities that plan to offer interactive experiences such as live NFTs, concerts, and much more. Some individuals are willing to pay thousands to get land beside Snoop Dogg, with one of the collectors paying over $450,000 for the same. Simultaneously, brands like Atari, The Walking Dead, and Adidas have already acquired lands in the metaverse. Borget believes that brands and celebrities joining the metaverse has resulted in motion which attracted numerous users to join the game.
The Sandbox’s Alpha Test Period
The first Alpha test period was launched at the end of November, which allowed users to play around in the metaverse. A special Alpha Pass NFT was launched simultaneously, which, when purchased, gives users the access to enjoy 18 play experiences and earn some token rewards as well. Users who enter metaverse without this NFT pass had the privilege to experience a few gameplay with no rewards.
Borget explained that at the time of launching the Alpha test period, he was pretty nervous about the feedback he might get, including feedback like the metaverse is boring, it’s ugly, it’s no fun, it’s filled with bugs, and so on. But when the test period was concluded, the primary response was pretty positive, encouraging Borget. Thousands of players joined the Alpha test period, and over 17,000 players became landowners in the metaverse at the time. The game is still developing, and there are some feedback to think on and some bugs to fix, said Borget.
The Metaverse Needs Players!
The Sandbox plans to launch more testing periods every few months in 2022 to get more detailed feedback. The team behind the metaverse will also migrate the game onto the Polygon, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, to reduce network congestion and transaction fees for player interactions. A DAO will also be launched in 2022, which will give digital asset owners of the game to participate in future game decisions.
Borget concluded by saying that the metaverse needs players to fill the void. When players start to build experiences using our tools suitable to open for the general public, the Sandbox will go live on layer-2 to roll out experiences on their lands, which would be the best time to start, Borget concludes.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
