Individual creators will ultimately shape the metaverse: Sandbox founders

November 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Adidas

As the firm moves to open up The Sandbox Map, co-founder Sebastian Borget said he believes individual creators and brands will ultimately drive what the metaverse of the future will offer.

Individual creators and brands will ultimately determine the future of the metaverse as opposed to any centralized entity, according to the co-founders of The Sandbox.

On Nov. 3, the team behind the Ethereum-based metaverse announced on X it had made The Sandbox Map accessible to everyone, where “LAND” owners can publish their own experiences without needing to partake in an application process (which was previously required).

THE METAVERSE IS NOW OPEN

Starting today, LAND owners in The Sandbox can instantly publish experiences on the map!

We're accelerating user-generated content to unleash the creative potential of creators like you. Let's build the metaverse together. #UGC #CreatorsDayHK pic.twitter.com/A2E8gNI2it
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) November 3, 2023

“Now [anyone] can open their experience to the public [and] make it accessible, which will increase the amount of experience and content that people can play and discover on the platform,” Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget told Cointelegraph in an earlier Nov. 2 interview during Hong Kong FinTech Week.

#CreatorsDayHK is LIVE!

Livestream all the key events on X or our YouTube channel: https://t.co/83NqKyOTDr

We've got some exciting news that you won't want to miss. Stay tuned to see what's in store for the metaverse! pic.twitter.com/ReUQahbckP
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) November 3, 2023

The notion that users can create and own content and property in Web3 is at the forefront of Sandbox’s strategy, Borget iterated.

“They discover blockchain not because of the value of the asset, but because they can create content.”

Updates to Game Maker and a new fund

Sandbox said it will also update its Game Maker tool before 2024, its experience-building and testing tool that is set to introduce new gameplay mechanics, templates and social interactions to make content production even easier.

The firm will also “reignite” its new 100 million SAND Game Maker Fund (currently worth $36 million) next year to build on those updates.

Borget said this will drive engagement across a range of industries:

“[It will] drive more engagement, more replayability, more fun and new social interaction as we define the future of music, the future of fashion, sport, entertainment, art and culture on the platform.”

Borget said Game Maker’s tools have simplified the process for new creators to get started:

“Game Maker has been a gateway to bring a new breed of creators that then design new experiences and then over time monetize it by selling on marketplace and introducing their own.”

Meanwhile, Sandbox co-founder and CEO, Arthur Madrid, said the firm has helped connect brands to fans of late by running contests to rebuild New York’s Times Square and architectures in The Walking Dead, among other things.

The firm is working to incorporate multiplayer capabilities which will drive this audience engagement. But Madrid acknowledged the difficulty with integrating multiplayer capabilities in metaverses at scale, particularly on blockchains.

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Dive in TODAY! https://t.co/bK636FFLLW #DrBomkusTrials pic.twitter.com/8Nui4b1UKU
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) November 1, 2023

Over 400 partners have signed up to The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Gucci Vault, Snoop Dogg, Invincible and Adidas.

Looking ahead however, Borget acknowledged that metaverse adoption won’t take off until more defined use cases are established in virtual worlds, as incoming users are ultimately looking for memorable experiences to gravitate towards.

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Shrapnel Web3 shooter won’t let US users cash out, thanks to Gensler

September 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Brand

As soon as a gamer cashes out an in-game asset, they realize monetary value, which is where the problem with the SEC comes in, a Shrapnel executive told Cointelegraph.

The creators of blockchain game Shrapnel — an upcoming AAA first-person extraction shooter — will be cutting a part of its game for United States-based players, in order to avoid the potential ire of the country’s securities regulator.

The game, which is due to launch in early access in December, will be unrestricted for players from Europe and Asia but gamers from the U.S. will not be able to cash out at all, says Shrapnel Head of Economy Francis Brankin in a Sept. 13 interview with Cointelegraph at Token 2049.

“They [U.S. users] can do everything every other player can do, but they can't cash out. Because that's what makes it a security to the U.S. player, as soon as they can realize monetary value, that’s where the problem comes in.”

He hopes the issue will be temporary and that Neon — the team behind Shrapnel — will soon enable U.S. users to bridge capital accrued from Shrapnel to their bank accounts.

〉Getting ready to extract. pic.twitter.com/kq6B07Ub97
— SHRAPNEL (@playSHRAPNEL) September 13, 2023

Shrapnel is a first-person extraction shooter set on 2038 Earth, where players scavenge for loot and attempt to extract their winnings — all the while being hunted by enemies and other players.

The game also allows gamers to build open economies and possess the intellectual property rights over in-game assets as opposed to merely creating value from the game itself, Brankin explained.

This was one of the main reasons why the firm’s CEO, Mark Long decided to go down the blockchain route. Users can build a brand, create and then sell in-game assets from the ground up.

“User generated content is clearly a big thing,” Brankin explained, pointing to Roblox and Minecraft as textbook examples.

✦ SHRAPNEL INSIGNIA Beta is now available to the public! ✦

Create your own personalised designs and build out your unique brand!

From intricate emblems to eye-catching symbols, custom patterns and elaborate scenes – you can design whatever your imagination desires!

https://t.co/OVQju6PNdv pic.twitter.com/wZkfyzbCmE
— SHRAPNEL (@playSHRAPNEL) June 16, 2023

Brankin said Neon chose Avalanche because of its scaling capabilities.

Shrapnel can currently process 2 million transactions per hour (555 TPS) which is sufficient for the time being but over time it’ll be easier to scale up on Avalanche, Brankin explained.

Neon will launch an early access version of the game in December to paid users before it evolves into a free-to-play game.

While the limitations imposed on U.S. users serves as a roadblock for Shrapnel’s upcoming launch, the co-founder of Sandbox told Cointelegraph the metaverse (and gaming generally) is dying in the U.S. but thriving in Asia — particularly Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.

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