So What is The Sandbox?
The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based metaverse and gaming ecosystem where users can create, share, and monetise in-world assets and gaming experiences. Unlike the traditional gaming market in which platforms own and control user-generated content, users have absolute ownership over their in-world creations in The Sandbox.
Besides the Metaverse, The Sandbox is also known for its mobile gaming hits – The Sandbox (2011) and The Sandbox Evolution (2016). Together, the two games have generated over 40 million downloads. Created by Pixowl in 2018, the goal of Sandbox was to disrupt existing game makers like Minecraft and Roblox by providing creators with true ownership of their creations as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The Sandbox blockchain gaming platform consists of three integrated products that together provide a comprehensive experience for user-content generation: VoxEdit, The Sandbox Marketplace and The Sandbox Game Maker.
While no knowledge of coding is required to participate in The Sandbox, its powerful suite of tools makes it possible to create and incorporate valuable assets into a fast-growing world of online games.
VoxEdit
VoxEdit allows users to create and animate 3D objects. It is a simple to use, yet powerful free 3D voxel modelling and NFT creation package that allows users to create and animate 3D objects such as humans, animals, vehicles, foliage, tools and items. These objects are called assets and use the ERC-1155 token standard.
Voxels, which are square 3D pixels similar to building blocks, can be manipulated using VoxEdit to quickly create beautiful creations. Once built, objects can be exported from VoxEdit into The Sandbox marketplace to become NFT game ASSETS.
Sandbox Marketplace
Sandbox Marketplace allows users to upload, publish, and sell their NFT creations made with VoxEdit. In short, it is a place where users can sell their assets. But how does one do that?
First, creations are first uploaded into an IPFS network to provide decentralised storage and then registered onto the blockchain to prove ownership. Once this is accomplished, creations become ASSETS that can be sold by making an initial sale offer on the marketplace where potential buyers can then purchase them.
Sandbox Game Maker
Simply put, The Sandbox Game Maker allows anyone to build 3D games for free. No coding is required thanks to accessible visual scripting tools to create amazing 3D games in minutes. Creators can contribute to a vast metaverse, filled with a wide range of amazing interactive creations and experiences.
The Sandbox’s Tokens: SAND
The Sandbox uses several token types to ensure a circular economy between all the types of users who will interact with the platform: players, creators, curators, and land owners. By providing an ecosystem for tokenized assets in gaming, The Sandbox ecosystem makes use of several different tokens: SAND, LAND, ASSETS, and LANDS.
SAND is an ERC20 token, and it powers all of The Sandbox’s transactions and interactions. It was launched on the Binance trading platform in August 2020. You need it to do everything on this Metaverse – play games and customise your avatar, buy and sell your digital assets to make even more SAND and other tokens.
Beyond that, SAND has many other functions as well. It is also a governance token that allows holders to participate in Governance decisions on the platform, using a DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) structure. They can exercise voting rights on key elements such as Foundation grant attributions to content and feature prioritisation on the platform roadmap.
SAND also allows for staking, which provides passive revenues on LANDS: you receive more SAND by staking it. This is also the only way to get valuable Gems and Catalysts, which are required for ASSET creation.
On the other hand, ssers with LAND tokens have ownership rights to a specific place on the platform. These are based on the ERC721 standard, which allows players to acquire ownership. It also allows players to rent, stake, host, and form districts. Finally, LAND makes players eligible for governance activities as well.
Players can use their LANDS, a 96x96 metre digital plot, to house games and ASSETS. Only 166,464 LAND plots will ever exist. When a player combines multiple LANDS into one property, it is called an Estate.
How Do You Generate Revenue in The Sandbox?
You can generate revenue in The Sandbox in several ways. After creating ASSETS with VoxEdit, you can upload them to The Sandbox Marketplace to sell as NFTs. For example, ASSETS such as avatars, motorbikes, and animals sell for a wide range of prices — from less than 10 SAND to thousands of SAND!
Likewise, you can create and monetise your own games with The Sandbox Game Maker, or alternatively earn rewards as a player of other users’ games. You can also earn income from your LAND by renting it to other players or by populating it with content to increase its value.
Alternatively, you can also sell NFTs created using game assets on OpenSea, an online marketplace specifically to buy and sell NFTs.
Conclusion
The Sandbox is one of several crypto Metaverses attempting to change the dynamics between creators, gamers, and gaming platforms. The Sandbox and its peers are paving the way for a new gaming market in which players own the products of their creative labour and are rewarded for the substantial value that they generate for platform operators.
Indeed, the Metaverse comprises multiple platforms, like The Sandbox, for users to take ownership and monetise their creations independently. Therefore, it is important to know exactly how it works, and why they are important in the first place, and how we can utilise the Metaverse in our businesses and everyday lives. TechFin is partnering with SMU Academy to offer an Advanced Certificate in Web 3.0 for individuals interested in the applications of Web 3.0, Metaverse and blockchain.
Want a more detailed and more compact course on specifically the Metaverse? No worries! TechFin x SMU Academy also offers a course on Diving Into The Metaverse, happening on 10th February 2022 where you will understand how the Metaverse is changing the way we live and work, especially in Singapore.