On our previous post we went over Decentraland to try and outline what the short-term future of the Metaverse looks like for e-commerce brands. In this post, we will share our learnings on another of the most promising platforms: The Sandbox.
At Content2Sell we believe they should all keep an eye on the development Metaverse-like platforms, because they are the ones moving faster. Even if that, for now, “only” seems to apply to the creation of virtual worlds digital assets (NFT’s) closely related to Blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
What could be just a testing stage to find the most efficient and profitable market lines, is slowly getting a lot of attention, and somehow paving the way for further development.
If accessing the Metaverse with no 3D glasses or helmets is already possible, it is thanks to the gaming industry, which is stemming into new forms of identity, interaction, and consumption.
E-commerce and the Metaverse Part 2 – The Sandbox
Gaming and blockchain
According to Statista, there are about 3,250 million gamers in the world. People investing time and money in a growing industry that shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, by the end of 2021 it had risen 180 billion dollars, which are expected to double in the coming 5 years.
Everybody wants a piece of the Metaverse. But as we quoted on a previous post, “the Metaverse is a concept, not a product”, and we’ll have to wait until we see one single integrated Metaverse. Many metaverses will appear and disappear, each one of them providing new ideas and opportunities for e-commerce.
That’s why blockchain companies are focusing on games, especially interactive games with loads of creation, customization, and trading possibilities. From designing unique virtual wearables that can be sold, to commercial partnerships.
What is The Sandbox?
The Sandbox Foundation defines it as a “community-driven platform where creators can monetize voxel ASSETS and gaming experiences on the blockchain”.
The story goes back to 2012, when Sebastien Borget and Arthur Madrid founded a SW company based in San Francisco, called Pixowl. They launched a cellphone game app where users could build virtual worlds, and it went rapidly viral with 40 million players.
2017 was a very good year for the Blockchain technology, and investments were on the rise with little difficulties from the banks. That’s when Pixowl decided to transform the original Sandbox into a 3D metaverse game, using Ethereum to offer NFTs. One year later, in 2018, Pixowl was bought by Animoca Brands, Hong Kong based animation studio: digital entertainment, videogames and Blockchain.
How does The Sandbox work?
The Sandbox is very similar to Decentraland, although they do have differences regarding their functions and how they call the ones they share.
Products
For starters, and starting from their own definition, The Sandbox has products: softwares for users to design complete ecosystems.
- Voxedit. The Voxel editor allows to create everything from avatars to spaces, from vehicles to objects. All NFT’s that can be animated and commercialized.
- Marketplace. The open market where all trades happen – except for the Land market.
- Gamemaker. A simple software that allows to design, build and monetize games.
Right now, only virtual assets are available. But as we’ll see further on, many brands who sell physical products are already taking positions not to stay behind.
Types of land
The Sandbox counts a larger number of parcels compared to Decentraland. With a very similar structure. Also, each parcel, state or district can be customized by modifying its structure, by adding objects or designing minigames with no code.
- Lands. A Land is the basic unit in the platform’s map. There are 166464 of them and allow serval options. From hosting games for gamers to play, to renting them to game designers to create, build, and monetize experiences.
- Estates. Estates are a group of Lands that belong to the same owner
- Districts. Districts are, basically, Estates belonging to two or more owners. When creating a District, the owners can also write their own rules for all the experiences happening within. Many of the districts that exist today belong to companies who have stepped ahead and placed their bet in The Sandbox.
Again, despite having a larger number of parcels, it remains a limited world. Therefore, scarcity and the silent regulation of supply and demand are likely to inflate costs and the value of its currency.
Currency
SANDs are the platforms exchange token and also for governance. They now operate exclusively on the Ethereum blockchain, and act as The Sandbox’s fuel. They are a prerequisite to use The Sandbox, and grants voting rights too.
SAND has 3 functions:
- Means of exchange
- Governance
- Staking rewards.
The Sandbox has its own marketplace to trade Lands and all kinds of NFTs across the platform.
The Sandbox operational costs are, unlike Decentraland, paid by the platform. This is why the Foundation keeps a stunning 50% of all transactions related to lands, Premium NFT’s, and subscription services to finance their operations.
All money that goes into The Sandbox is destined to self-financing and to what they call “the rewards pool”, a system created to reward investors (AKA “people who provide liquidity”).
In March 2021 The Sandbox became one of the most successful projects in NFT. As of today, it has moved over 350 million USD. That’s why in June 2021 the Sandbox added Polygon, just like Decentraland did. And guess what, it was for the same exact purposes.
The latest estimation says there are 3 billon tokens, with only 30% in actual circulation. That means that 50% hasn’t even been emitted. When they get emitted, inflation becomes likely.
Growing and trending
Lands are the most demanded asset in The Sandbox, both by users and large corporations. In fact, it is now attracting businesses and celebrities. For example, Skybound Entertainment already offers activities related to their most famous production: The Walking Dead.
Many others, from various industries, are there too: BigFen. Virtual sports, Adidas, Ubisoft, Softbank. Even Snoop Dogg has his own mansion and, as we wrote this post, Jamiroquai stepped in.
Land price has skyrocketed over last year and $SAND’s value surged after Facebook changed its name to META and announced its new course.
Challenges and opportunities
Given its continuous growth and popularity, The Sandbox is working on a smartphone version, aiming to engage younger generations and, potentially, gaming consoles. Moreover, the idea is to make people earn money only by playing. A very successful model, like XInfinity’s
As promising as it may look, The Sandbox also faces strong challenges. For starters, it is not as developed as Decentraland, and there’s quite some work to catch up with them. However, that’s also an opportunity to find ways around Decentraland’s challenges.
Expectations are high and, as long as the current growing trend continues, a heavy load of users should arrive when The Sandbox goes public. Because, as of today, it is a Beta version for a closed community.
One of the biggest problems is centralization. Despite operating on blockchain technology, The Sandbox is hosted by Amazon Web Services, which makes it vulnerable to both regulations and hackers. There are countless competitors fighting in the NFT’s ring and, incidentally, many of them are already operating and regulated in the USA, which is by all means a huge challenge for The Sandbox. Especially because $SANDs are considered financial assets and can’t work like Decentraland’s MANA.
Conclusion
As you can see, businesses of all sizes are considering taking steps towards the metaverse. Or at least, towards on of them. And while there’s still time until we see it, there’s not much room for hesitation. The first ones who take physical products to virtual markets will have made real impact.
Small steps can be made meanwhile. Enriching content, and gradually implement 3D renders and 3D boxes in websites. As internet connections become faster, new competitors will appear and, foreseeably, prices will drop. And by then, the more farsighted will have a strong advantage.
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