Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd's subsidiary The Sandbox, a decentralised gaming virtual world, has announced a series of new partners for Mega City 2, the second phase of Hong Kong's vibrant cultural hub in the metaverse.
The company said it would also launch the sale of LAND, a digital piece of real estate in The Sandbox’s metaverse, on April 28, allowing players to become a part of the Mega City neighbourhood.
Companies from the tourism, hospitality, cultural, media, education, banking, investment, music and entertainment industries are to partner with The Sandbox to create a virtual community that represents Hong Kong.
Mega City 2 land sale
The Mega City 2 LAND sale will allow players to purchase LANDs, and The Sandbox map will show the LAND that the partners have purchased.
There are endless possibilities for landowners to host events, gaming experiences or social hubs since these LANDs also include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are exclusively curated by the partners.
The Sandbox, with more than 2.7 million registered users, is part virtual real estate and part amusement park that embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space in which worlds and heroes can collide. More than 200 partnerships have been established by The Sandbox to build an open platform and provide gaming experiences.
Immersive 3D worlds
The Sandbox metaverse provides players and creators with an intuitive and decentralised platform for creating 3D worlds and gaming experiences, and for storing, trading and monetising their creations.
Mega City neighbourhoods have always been defined by their people. Following the success of Mega City 1, the Sandbox continues to attract talent to the cultural hub as it expands into its second phase.
Ocean Park, Standard Chartered, Regal Hotels Group, Tatler Asia, EVI, Brinc, MADworld, Gameone, Chord Hero, Time Gates of Hong Kong Pop Culture and UFO School are the new players, and several different experiences are to be built by each of the partners.
"Our new partners bring some of the best of what makes Hong Kong a multi-cultural, vibrant city while sharing our creative vision of building an open metaverse," said Sebastien Borget, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Sandbox.
"They are reinventing themselves and innovating through The Sandbox platform to offer unique virtual experiences."
Ocean Park
An iconic part of Hong Kong's cultural and entertainment landscape is Ocean Park, one of Asia's most dynamic leisure and resort destinations.
Ocean Park is transforming itself in many innovative ways as it celebrates its 45th anniversary. The partnership with The Sandbox is the park's latest initiative aimed at embracing the future of entertainment.
This partnership will allow the park to develop immersive events, products and experiences in never-before-seen forms in a strategic move for the brand.
Furthermore, it will bring to life brand new virtual gaming experiences like missions, explorations, and animal interactions that will allow visitors to experience Ocean Park from a new perspective while offering unprecedented enjoyment.
Fans will also be able to revisit their favourite discontinued attractions.
Additionally, Ocean Park will issue a series of exclusive NFTs featuring its most iconic symbols.
Standard Chartered
The Standard Chartered Group is an international banking group. SC Ventures is Standard Chartered's platform and catalyst for innovation, investment in disruptive financial technology, and exploration of alternative business models.
It has driven the group's entry into the metaverse and its exploration of future Web3 opportunities.
In Mega City 2, Standard Chartered will provide The Sandbox with a number of use cases based on their Hong Kong experience.
Standard Chartered is to build new experiences for clients as well as the community using Web3 technology and will do this with its partners and clients it has built through SC Ventures Fintech Bridge, as well as its own team.
Regal Hotels Group
A leading hotel operator in Hong Kong, the Regal Hotels Group, announced MetaGreen, the first green city in the Sandbox metaverse.
With the aim of inspiring people to achieve carbon net-zero by 2050, MetaGreen encourages sustainable living and decarbonisation by incentivising eco-friendly behaviour and environmental consumption choices within daily life.
As a reward, immersive play-to-earn experiences and NFT assets will provide a bridge between virtual gaming and the real world and engage Sandbox users in this environmental 'edutainment' model.
MetaGreen will have six unique and interactive districts, including a futuristic 'net zero' hotel featuring sustainable 'proptech', a metaverse convention centre, a shopping mall with a bank and retail store, a virtual classroom offering a university-designed environmental curriculum for secondary students, online-to-offline biosphere activities, and a green art gallery.
MetaGreen is keenly aware of the environmental impact of proof-of-work protocols, which is why it has chosen to partner with The Sandbox due to its current transition to the eco-friendly polygon blockchain and carbon offset pledges.
Tatler Asia
With exclusive experiences in collaboration with the world's most prestigious brand, Tatler Asia, the luxury media group is to shape the future of luxury in The Sandbox.
With Tatler, one can experience the best in culture, fashion, entertainment and lifestyle, including the first-ever ball in the metaverse in partnership with M+ museum, and the GenT summit, which connects the next generation of leaders shaping Asia's future.
EVI Services Limited
EVI Services Limited (EVI) is a Hong Kong-based education and information technology company that provides support to the education community in Hong Kong and China via physical classrooms and online platforms for primary schools and kindergartens.
The Sandbox will soon be home to an entertainment and education metaverse hub, EVIland, created by Metaverse Entertainment Limited that focuses on movie production and distribution.
EVIland will offer educational and entertaining experiences through a virtual library, an exhibition hall featuring digital arts and works created by players, and environments to host classes and competitions for schools and students, and an occupational role-playing game.
Through metaverse cinema, concerts, and imaginative games, Metaverse Entertainment Limited will provide immersive entertainment experiences to EVIland.
With NFT private passes, visitors will have access to EVIland's unique experiences.
Brinc
Brinc, a leading global venture accelerator with a commitment to sustainability, has expanded its support for game changers by developing a shark tank-type of experience in The Sandbox.
The 'Brinc Cosmos' will serve as a live ideation stage, pitch stage and future world with the aim to educate, entertain and inspire everyone in the metaverse.
An audience of live judges will provide startup founders and project leaders with the opportunity to introduce their Web3 businesses in key categories such as arts and culture, blockchain, digital entertainment, food technology, climate change, and many more.
On the pitch stage, entrepreneurs will gain exposure and have a chance to secure funding.
The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator was announced by Brinc and The Sandbox in January 2022 with US$50 million committed to 100 startups enhancing the metaverse. During the first month, more than 800 startups applied to the program's most recent callout.
MADworld
Animoca Brands-backed Madworld aims to bring the best of global culture to Web3.
As part of its mission to bring connectedness, culture, and community to the masses, MADworld uses Web3 technologies.
MADworld is to create an unrivalled cohesive approach to tie together gaming experiences at the Sandbox Mega City 2 project.
Gameone
Hong Kong-based Gameone has developed and published many popular games. Gameone will create an interactive experience and integrate its games into the Sandbox, resulting in a metaverse called Gameone City.
Forming the innovation hub for Mega City 2, Gameone City will feature a modern Hong Kong pavilion, a Wuxia costume city, and an ACG sci-fi paradise in addition to offering both new and familiar experiences.
Chord Hero
Using gamification and technology, Chord Hero makes music learning fun and affordable for everyone. The company's DIY maker ukulele set combines Steam, art, gamified music education, and environmentalism into a fun and accessible music learning tool for families and schools worldwide.
Chord Hero is now bringing its expertise in gamified music education to Mega City 2 in The Sandbox.
One of its first projects is an exhibition space where digitised ukuleles painted offline by students will be displayed and sold. It aims to introduce students, parents and educators to the metaverse while showcasing the artistic abilities of Hong Kong students.
The non-profit HKSEA will receive half the proceeds from the sale of these NFTs to support arts education in Hong Kong.
Time Gates of Hong Kong Pop Culture
A new metaverse project in the Sandbox called 'Time Gates of Hong Kong Pop Culture' will showcase the world's largest collection of street art from King of Kowloon, as well as Asia's largest anthology of art toys, stationery, and comics books.
The King of Kowloon (KOK) was a cultural icon who covered the streets of Hong Kong with his graffiti for over 39 years with a brush and ink. Tsang Tsou Choi (1921-2007) is regarded as one of Hong Kong's most important artists, and his artistic output fueled a lifetime of creativity.
With his signature style, Tsang etched himself into the collective memory of Chinese generations, both under British rule and after the handover.
A large portion of never-before-seen artworks will appear in the Sandbox Mega City 2, enlivened in NFT and digital forms, immortalising Tsang's legacy.
In addition to the KOK NFT art museum, this project curated by Hong Kong Creates, integrates the first learn-to-earn Chinese Hanzi metaverse academy in Hong Kong, a storytelling playground built on KOK's calligraphy that tells interesting stories about Chinese and Hong Kong history, art, and culture, as well as an interactive game with a treasure hunt game linked to the NFT collectibles.
UFO School
UFO School is an IT academy and Steam education provider and is a subsidiary of the HKEX-listed education group, HK Education Investment Limited.
UFO School is introducing the revolutionary 'learn-to-earn' model in education that will be exhibited collaboratively with The Sandbox, under the arrival of the metaverse era
The UFO School will gamify its masterclass programs in music, arts, Steam, design and IT taught by internationally renowned instructors in The Sandbox. Those who attend the masterclasses will earn tokens or NFTs as they learn.
Upon graduation, students will receive certificates in the form of NFTs embedded with a smart contract. The best work pieces produced by graduates in the form of digital assets will be showcased in a hall of fame gallery inside the Sandbox.
The UFO school is the official partner of The Sandbox and will provide training to talented individuals who aspire to become architects or creators inside The Sandbox.