HONG KONG, April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, today announced a series of new partners for Mega City 2, the second phase of Hong Kong’s vibrant cultural hub in the metaverse. To celebrate these partnerships, The Sandbox will launch a new LAND Sale on April 28, 2022, which will allow players to buy LANDs and become a part of the Mega City neighborhood.
The soul of the Mega City neighborhood has always been its people. Following the success of Mega City 1, The Sandbox continues to bring in the city’s talents to the cultural hub with the expansion of the Mega City into its second phase. The new entrants include 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. These represent the finest in the industries of tourism, hospitality, culture, media, education, banking, investment, music, and entertainment, enabling The Sandbox to build a culturally vibrant community that represents the city.
"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 COO of The Sandbox. "They are reinventing themselves and innovating through The Sandbox platform to offer unique virtual experiences."
Each partner has committed to building a variety of experiences in Mega City 2, as follows:
Ocean Park, one of Asia’s most dynamic leisure and resort destinations, plays an iconic role in Hong Kong’s cultural and entertainment landscape. As Ocean Park celebrates its 45th anniversary, it is transforming itself in many innovative ways. The partnership with The Sandbox is one of the latest initiatives that the Park has embarked on to embrace the future of entertainment. In a strategic move for the brand, this partnership empowers the Park to develop immersive experiences, events, and products in never-before-seen formats. It will also bring to life brand new virtual gaming experiences like missions, explorations, and animal interactions, guiding visitors to explore Ocean Park from a new perspective while offering unprecedented enjoyment with endless creativity. Furthermore, it will provide a fresh opportunity for fans to revisit discontinued attractions that they miss. A series of exclusive NFTs of Ocean Park’s most iconic symbols will also be issued.
Standard Chartered is a leading international banking group with a presence in 59 of the world’s most dynamic markets while serving clients in a further 83. SC Ventures, a platform and catalyst for Standard Chartered to promote innovation, invest in disruptive financial technology, and explore alternative business models, has been driving the group’s entrance into the metaverse and its exploration of future Web3 opportunities. The virtual land will be developed with a goal of experimenting and building new experiences for clients and the community in the metaverse utilizing Web3 technology. Standard Chartered will be doing this with its partners and clients, the community they have built through SC Ventures Fintech Bridge, other stakeholders, and the Bank’s own team. As part of Mega City 2, Standard Chartered will focus on a number of use cases that bring the Hong Kong experience to The Sandbox. The team is excited to be a part of this ecosystem and looks forward to collaborating with other institutions.
Regal Hotels Group, one of Hong Kong’s largest hotel operators, is pleased to announce MetaGreen, the first green metropolis in The Sandbox metaverse. With a view to inspiring people to achieve carbon net zero by 2050, MetaGreen promotes sustainable living and long-term decarbonization by incentivizing the adoption of eco-friendly behavior and green consumption choices in everyday life. Immersive play-to-earn experiences that provide a bridge between virtual gaming and the real world and NFT assets will be utilized as rewards to engage The Sandbox users in this environmental ‘edutainment’ model. MetaGreen will feature a thriving ecosystem of six unique and interactive districts, including a futuristic ‘net zero’ hotel and residence showcasing the latest sustainable ‘proptech’, a metaverse convention center, 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. Acutely aware of the environmental impact of proof-of-work protocols, MetaGreen has specifically chosen to partner with The Sandbox, due to its current migration to the eco-friendly Polygon blockchain and carbon offset pledges. Likewise, MetaGreen has already purchased more than double the carbon credits necessary to reverse its limited Ethereum emissions thus far. For more information, please visit http://www.metagreen.city.
Tatler Asia, the leading luxury media group behind Asia’s most iconic magazines, digital media, and experiences, will shape the future of luxury in The Sandbox through exclusive experiences in collaboration with the world’s most prestigious brand partners. Tatler will bring the best of culture, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle to The Sandbox (including the first-ever ball in the metaverse in partnership with M+ museum), and the Gen.T summit, which brings together the young leaders shaping Asia’s future.
EVI Services Limited (EVI), a Hong Kong-based education and information technology company providing learning and teaching support to the education community through physical classrooms and online platforms for primary schools, kindergartens, parents, and students in Hong Kong and China. Metaverse Entertainment Limited, a company focusing on movie production, movie distribution, and artist management will together build EVIland, an education and entertainment metaverse hub, in The Sandbox. EVIland will indulge players with educational and entertaining experiences through a virtual library, an exhibition hall showcasing digital arts and works created by players, environments to host classes and competition events for school and students, and an occupational role-playing game. Metaverse Entertainment Limited will bring immersive entertainment experiences to EVIland by providing metaverse cinema, concerts, and imaginative games. Exclusive NFT private passes will give access to unique experiences that will take place at EVIland.
Brinc, a leading global venture accelerator founded on a sustainability mandate, has extended its support for game changers through the development of a shark tank-type of experience in The Sandbox. Aiming to educate, entertain, and inspire all in the metaverse, the "Brinc Cosmos" will be a live ideation, pitch stage, and future world. Startup founders and project leaders will be able to connect with an audience of live judges to display and demonstrate their Web3 businesses across key categories of Arts and Culture, Blockchain, Digital Entertainment, Food Technology, Climate Change, and many more. The "Brinc Cosmos" will promote teams backed by the global venture accelerator – as well as curated entrants – and teach how Web3 can play a key role in sustainability and climate change. Judges, mentors, and visitors will be offered exclusive rewards such as tokens and NFTs for active participation through voting, engagement, and game play. Founders on the Pitch Stage will gain necessary exposure and a chance to secure investment. In January 2022, Brinc and The Sandbox announced The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator with US$50 million committed to 100 startups enhancing the open metaverse. The program’s most recent callout received more than 800 startup applications within the first month.
MADworld, a venture backed by Animoca Brands, is dedicated to bringing the best of global culture to Web3. MADworld uses Web3 technologies to promote its mission of delivering Connectedness, Culture, and Community to the masses. In partnering with The Sandbox Mega City 2 project, MADworld will create a one-of-a-kind, cohesive approach to tie together gaming experiences with this global phenomenon.
Gameone is a well-established game company based in Hong Kong which has developed and published many popular games. Gameone will create a unique interactive experience and bring its games into The Sandbox, creating a metaverse called Gameone City. Forming the innovation hub for Mega City 2, Gameone City will provide both unique and familiar experiences including a modern Hong Kong Pavilion, Wuxia costume city, and ACG sci-fi paradise. Gameone City will offer a new vision of fantasy adventure that extends from the ancient world to the future.
Chord Hero is a startup that specializes in making music learning fun and affordable for everyone by using gamification and technology. Its do-it-yourself Maker Ukulele Set combines STEAM, art, gamified music education, and environmentalism in one product that has brought fun and affordable music learning to families and schools worldwide. Now, Chord Hero is bringing its expertise in gamified music education to Mega City 2 in The Sandbox. Its first project is an exhibition venue to showcase and sell NFTs of digitized ukuleles painted by students offline. The initiative encourages students, parents, and educators to experience the metaverse while showcasing the artistic skills of Hong Kong students to the world. Half of all proceeds from the sale of these NFTs will be donated to the non-profit HKSEA to boost arts education in Hong Kong.
"Time Gates of Hong Kong Pop Culture" is a metaverse project in The Sandbox, in which the world’s largest collection of King of Kowloon’s street art will make its debut, along with Asia’s largest anthology of art toys, stationery, and comics books. A cultural icon who covered the streets of Hong Kong with his graffiti for over 39 years, Tsang Tsou Choi (1921-2007) used a brush and ink to proclaim himself The King of Kowloon (KOK) – the heir to the birthright that fueled a lifetime of artistic output. With his signature style, Tsang wrote himself into the collective memory of generations of Chinese, both under British rule and in the post-handover era. Enlivened in NFT and digital forms, a large portion of never-before-seen artworks will be available in The Sandbox Mega City 2, immortalizing Tsang’s legacy. Curated by HONG KONG CREATES, this project provides four creative online and offline experiences integrating the KOK NFT art museum, the first learn-to-earn Chinese Hanzi metaverse academy, a storytelling playground built on the KOK’s eccentric calligraphy that tells interesting stories about Chinese and Hong Kong history, art, and culture, as well as an interactive game with an offline treasure hunting game linked to the NFT collectables.
UFO School, a subsidiary of the HKEX-listed education group "HK Education (Int’) Investment Limited", is an IT academy and STEAM education provider. With the arrival of the metaverse era, UFO School is introducing the revolutionary "Learn-to-Earn" model in Education that will be exhibited collaboratively with The Sandbox. UFO School will gamify its Masterclass Programs in Music, Arts, STEAM, Design, and IT taught by globally renowned instructors in The Sandbox. Enrolled students will receive tokens or NFTs as they learn. Upon graduation, they 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. UFO school is the official partner of The Sandbox providing training for talented individuals who want to become creators or architects inside The Sandbox. The learn-to-earn model enables students to convert their vocational skills to provide service to LAND owners. Working with its local school partners, UFO school will launch virtual events, art exhibitions, concerts, and ceremonies in The Sandbox.
Mega City 2 LAND Sale
On April 28, 2022, The Sandbox will launch the Mega City 2 LAND Sale, which allows everyone to purchase LANDs in the Mega City 2 neighborhood. LANDs purchased by the partners can be seen on The Sandbox map. Premium LANDs also include exclusive premium NFTs curated by our partners. LAND owners can host events, gaming experiences, or social hubs – the possibilities are limited only by imagination!
These partnerships follow The Sandbox‘s successful launch of its highly anticipated Alpha Season 2, with a wave of diverse new game experiences in progress for the Alpha Season and beyond. The entertainment metaverse now has over 2.7 million registered users, showing strong global interest ahead of the platform’s full launch.
Part virtual real estate, part amusement park, The Sandbox fully embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space where worlds and heroes collide to make magic. The Sandbox has secured over 200 partnerships to build an open platform and provide gaming experiences everyone can own, create and monetize. Its play and earn model gives players true ownership of anything they collect in the game, allowing them to trade, transfer, and resell it to others.
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About The Sandbox
The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is one of the decentralized virtual worlds that has been fueling the recent growth of virtual real estate demand having partnered with major IPs and brands including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, The Rabbids, Gucci Vault, The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, ZEPETO, CryptoKitties, and many others. Building on existing The Sandbox IP that has more than 40 million global installs on mobile, The Sandbox metaverse offers players and creators a decentralized and intuitive platform to create immersive 3D worlds and game experiences and to safely store, trade, and monetize their creations. For more information, please visit www.sandbox.game and follow the regular updates on Twitter, Medium, and Discord.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification that is working to advance digital property rights. It develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Disney, WWE, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. The company has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Bondly, Lympo, Grease Monkey Games, and Eden Games. Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 170 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralized projects that are contributing to building the open metaverse, including Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, Star Atlas, and others. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
About Ocean Park
Ocean Park is Hong Kong’s unique home-grown theme park with a heritage of delivering family fun and fond memories. Since its opening in January 1977 as a non-profit organization, Ocean Park has developed itself into a world-class attraction connecting people with nature. It has gained consistent recognition for its extraordinary experiences, conservation and education work, and relationship with the community. The Park has successfully transformed into a premier international resort destination with the launch of the Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel in October 2018 and Water World Ocean Park Hong Kong in September 2021. For more information, please visit oceanpark.com.hk and waterworld.oceanpark.com.hk.
About Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered is a leading international banking group, with a presence in 59 of the world’s most dynamic markets and serving clients in a further 83. Their purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through their unique diversity, and their heritage and values are expressed in their brand promise, here for good. SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, promotes innovation, invests in disruptive financial technology and explores alternative business models. Standard Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges. The history of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong dates back to 1859. It is currently one of the Hong Kong SAR’s three note-issuing banks. Standard Chartered incorporated its Hong Kong business on 1 July 2004, and now operates as a licensed bank in Hong Kong under the name of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered PLC. For more stories and expert opinions please visit Insights at sc.com. Follow Standard Chartered on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
About Regal Hotels Group
Regal Hotels Group is a member of the Century City Group (00355), which is a conglomerate publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Regal Hotels Group is one of the largest hotel operators in Hong Kong and manages a fine collection of hotel brands including Regal, Regala, and iclub with 18 locations worldwide. Regal Hotels Group also owns the Campus La Mola, located in Barcelona of Spain and The Waterman by Regal, located in London of United Kingdom, which targets to open in 2023. For more information, please visit http://www.regalhotel.com.
About Tatler Asia
Tatler Asia, who this year celebrates its 45th year anniversary, is the leading luxury media company in Asia. Tatler’s mission is to build, inspire and empower Asia’s most influential communities of shared passion through the power of unparalleled storytelling, iconic brands, and Web 3.0 technologies. Tatler has a presence in seven markets across Asia and is owned by Michel Lamunière.
About EVI Services Limited (EVI)
EVI Services Limited (EVI) is a Hong Kong-based education and information technology company providing learning and teaching support to the education community through physical classrooms and online platforms for primary schools, kindergartens, parents and students in Hong Kong and China. Metaverse Entertainment Limited, a company focusing on movie production, movie distribution and artists management. Together, they will join forces to become partners of The Sandbox. For more information, please visit https://www.evi.com.hk.
About Brinc
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Brinc is a leader in venture acceleration, operating 18 multidisciplinary accelerator programs in seven countries. Brinc accelerates startups focused on Blockchain, AI, Food Technology and Climate Change — all within a sustainability mandate. Brinc has a portfolio of 200+ companies with founders from 38+ countries, and also supports corporations with investment services, sourcing of new technologies and venture-building Web 3.0-enabled businesses. Global corporations, government organizations, tertiary institutions and leading venture funds have all run programs with Brinc. In mid-2021, Brinc announced the Launchpad Luna Blockchain and NFT accelerator in partnership with Animoca Brands; and at end-2021, Animoca Brands committed US$100 million to further invest in Brinc’s accelerated startups. www.brinc.io.
About MADworld
MADworld offers an NFT Origination Platform and an NFT Marketplace that use blockchain technology to defend the artists, artwork, creators, and content that enter the untraversed multiverse. MADworld supports NFT minting to validate ownership and provenance of physical art, collectibles, and products and original content developed from live concerts, sporting events, artist battles, and other modes of creative expression. MADworld is designed to give creators complete control over their NFT strategy, supporting them by maximizing the income and impact from their intellectual property in perpetuity. For more information and updates about MADworld, visit https://madworld.io or follow their Twitter?Medium?Discord and Telegram.
About Gameone
Gameone Group Limited, a well-established game company based in Hong Kong. Gameone is the only multimedia group that include game development, game operation, licensing and distribution in the SAR. It is headquartered in Hong Kong and has wholly owned branches in Taiwan. For more information about Gameone, please visit http://www.gameone.com.
About Chord Hero
Chord Hero makes learning music fun and affordable using a range of physical and digital products. One of our main products is the Maker Ukulele Set, a DIY kit certified by the Education Alliance Finland, enabling children to assemble and decorate a real musical instrument. The Maker Ukulele Set includes the music-learning mobile app ChordVentures, an innovative mobile game with chord recognition technology that turns learning and practicing from a chore into a fun game. The Maker Ukulele Set is perfect for educators, schools, makerspaces, and parents to teach kids the science behind the construction of a musical instrument. For more information, please visit http://www.chordhero.com.
About HONG KONG CREATES
Established in Hong Kong in 2009, HONG KONG CREATES has been a driving force for creativity in multiple spaces, curating a platform for arts and culture exchange and promoting education globally. As the founder and creative director, Mr. Willie Chung Yin-chai, holds the world’s largest collection of the King of Kowloon’s artwork, along with an extensive collection of Hong Kong-made toys and comics as well as an anthology of art toys and stationery. Having published four books on the work of King of Kowloon and series research papers, Mr. Chung continues to promote local culture and plays a key role in educating and mentoring the next generation of artists in Hong Kong. For more information, please visit: www.kok.xyz.
About UFO School
UFO School, a subsidiary of the HKEX-listed education group "HK Education (Int’) investment Limited", is an IT academy and STEAM education provider. The school offers a series of online/offline IT and technology courses with a curriculum developed through a partnership with global technology corporations. Founded by educational leaders and tech savvy professionals, UFO also provides STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) courses and consultation services to local schools and academic partners. As a pioneer on Metaverse Education, UFO School has launched a series of virtual events such as virtual art exhibitions, concerts and ceremonies since 2019.
