Hong Kong Has a New NFT Cultural Hub in the Metaverse

The Sandbox, a decentralized gaming virtual world, is building Mega City, a new cultural hub in the metaverse. It is bringing together the film, music, entertainment, acting, professional services, finance, real estate, and gaming sectors to create Mega City.

The new entrants joined The Sandbox’s virtual real estate by acquiring LAND NFTs in the open metaverse and have committed to building experiences in Mega City. To celebrate the new partners, The Sandbox will launch a new LAND sale this week that will allow players to purchase choice spots near the partners' LANDs announced today. 

The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands and recently featured in the Wall Street Journal and CNBC, is building a vast online metaverse where users create and monetize their distinct worlds and game experiences. Mega City will be a cultural hub based on or inspired by multiple Hong Kong talents.

Partners who acquired LAND to build Mega City in The Sandbox’s metaverse include Hong Kong tycoon Adrian Cheng, alternative investing leader Sun Hung Kai & Co, professional services firm PwC Hong Kong, blockchain-related investment and asset management company TIMES CAPITAL, famous actor and director Stephen Fung, international star Shu Qi, renowned musician Dough-Boy, game IP Little Fighter, and local illustrator Dreamergo.

The involvement of the partners follows The Sandbox’s Alpha launch in Q4 2021 that allowed anyone to participate using play-to-earn gameplay to earn SAND, The Sandbox’s utility token. Players can now experience the metaverse as they play or take a creative role, building assets and worlds that can be traded as NFTs with other players, creators, and artists on the platform.

The Sandbox has secured over 165 partnerships. They include Adidas, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, South China Morning Post, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, CryptoKitties, Shaun the Sheep, Mcdull, and Hanjin Tan, to build a fun, creative play-to-earn platform that offers virtual worlds and game experiences owned and created by players. The play-to-earn model gives players actual ownership of anything they collect in the game. It allows them to trade it to other players (including outside the game on other websites), transfer it to other players, or even resell it. 

The Sandbox has already sold 70% of its 166,464 LAND NFTs, releasing them in successive waves that usually sell out in seconds. Existing LAND owners include Binance, CoinCheck, Metakovan, Pranksy, Socios, and CoinMarketCap.

Image credit: iStockphoto/bashta