Blockchain
The Sandbox Attracts Strategic Gaming & Silicon Valley Partners to build Virtual Lands in its NFT Metaverse
Uken Games, Bill Lee, Ken Howery, Galaxy Interactive, Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini Frontier Fund, Nifty Gateway, Avenged Sevenfold, and others entered into strategic partnerships to acquire LAND and build experiences in The Sandbox’s NFT-based metaverse
The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands and the leading decentralized social metaverse platform, announced that it has added multiple partners from the NFT, investment, and music industries to its growing list of partners. As with previous partners, the new entrants have joined in The Sandbox’s virtual real estate by acquiring LAND NFTs in the open metaverse and committed to building experiences across the metaverse. To celebrate the new partners, The Sandbox will launch a new LAND sale on April 14 that allows players to purchase choice spots near partner LANDS.
The partners who acquired LAND in The Sandbox’s metaverse include crypto projects such as Nifty Gateway, 21x, and Gemini, as well as renowned Silicon Valley based VCs and investment partners including Galaxy Interactive (Global gaming VC and investors in over 50 companies across the interactive landscape, including RTFKT, Bitski, Mythical Games, Immutable, and WHALE), Bill Lee (Co-Founder of Craft Ventures, former Board Director of Big Fish Games, and early investor in Cloud9, Coinbase, Opensea, and Tesla), Ken Howery (Co-Founder and former managing partner at Founders Fund, Co-Founder of PayPal), Sundeep Madra (Serial entrepreneur and investor), Gemini Frontier Fund (Founded by Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss), Chris Ye (CEO of Uken Games and creator of top-grossing mobile games Bingo Pop, Ava’s Manor, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire), Alex Reece (Early investor in Unity, Draft Kings and Lyft), Michael Witz (Founder of Redemption Games and creator of top-grossing mobile games Cookie Jam and Sweet Escapes), Edward Saatchi (Founder of Virtual Beings company Fable) and Patricio Fuks (Serial Entrepreneur & Investor), and heavy metal band, Avenged Sevenfold.
“As a vibrant, growing NFT-based gaming metaverse, The Sandbox is attracting strong and diverse new partners each day, from gaming studios to IP brands to artists to celebrities to visionary entrepreneurs to technology companies,” said Sebastien BORGET, COO & Co-Founder of The Sandbox. “We’re shaping our virtual world to be an experience rich place where partners can plant a flag with virtual destination experiences on their LANDS in a powerful new entertainment community where creators, players and brands can build and grow alongside each other.”
The involvement of the partners announced follows the beta launch of The Sandbox’s NFT marketplace, which gives anyone the opportunity to earn SAND, The Sandbox’s utility token, by monetizing voxel-based NFT creations created with the dedicated software VoxEdit. Each NFT can be used inside the game platform in the future or used to build custom game experiences. LAND NFTs are the main gateway to publishing games in The Sandbox, as the platform prepares for opening its first public beta for players later this year. The Sandbox was recently featured by the Wall Street Journal and CNBC as a pioneer in the space.
The Sandbox is becoming a prime entertainment destination where brands, IPs, and celebrities can engage with their fans and offer virtual experiences including games, live performances, and social experiences. Brands will coexist through neighboring lands, able to function as digital concert arenas, theme parks, or malls that users of The Sandbox can visit and experience by themselves or with friends. Reflecting on this potential, partner VCs, investors, and celebrity brands share their thoughts below on what attracted them to The Sandbox:
“We have been tracking the progress of The Sandbox ecosystem from its earliest days, and have been impressed by the founding team’s consistent execution towards their mission of developing a community-owned sandbox of creativity and fun. We are delighted to do our part to develop the community through the land we’ve acquired, directly and through our portfolio companies, and cannot wait to witness how the broader ecosystem evolves,” said Richard Kim, GP at Galaxy Interactive.
“Gaming is a killer use case for the metaverse, and The Sandbox is the only metaverse tuned for high-quality games with a decentralized monetization ecosystem for developers, asset makers, and passionate gamers,” said Bill Lee, Co-Founder of Craft Ventures. “21x will be developing all of our parcels into THE premiere gaming destinations across any metaverse — stay tuned!“
“The Sandbox is revolutionizing gaming by empowering users to build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences in a virtual world that is decentralized,” said Tyler Winklevoss, Co-Founder of Gemini Exchange. “We plan to extend our existing platforms into The Sandbox and develop unique experiences on our properties that advance our mission of empowering the individual through crypto.”
“We have officially purchased LAND in The Sandbox and are excited to build out a virtual space for our friends to explore,” said heavy metal band, Avenged Sevenfold. “Digital ownership and the metaverse have become increasingly interesting to us and The Sandbox felt like the right fit to enter this new world.”
Upcoming LAND Sale
The Sandbox’s upcoming LAND sale event on April 14th, 2021 will offer additional premium LAND located near the partners announced today. Each purchasable LAND will include exclusive premium NFTs and have the possibility to host events, gaming experiences, or social hubs when the game is released later in 2021. The Sandbox has already sold 45% 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 among others.
The Sandbox has secured over 60 partnerships, including The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, CryptoKitties, and Shaun the Sheep, 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 true ownership of anything they collect in the game, allowing 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 is scheduled to launch its full Alpha for players in Q2 2021, enabling anyone to experience a social hub and gain the power to build a fantastic collection of fantasy and role-playing adventures that can be traded as NFTs with other players, creators, and artists on the platform.
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2025 BGA State of the Industry Report
MENA Emerges as Global Growth Engine for Blockchain Gaming, BGA 2025 Report Finds
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has emerged as the fastest-rising region in blockchain gaming, now representing nearly one-fifth of all industry professionals surveyed by the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA), according to the newly released 2025 BGA State of the Industry Report.
The findings were unveiled on stage at the Global Blockchain Show Abu Dhabi 2025 by Sebastien Borget, Co-President of the BGA and Co-Founder of The Sandbox, during a panel discussion titled ‘Web3 Gaming’s Big Bet’ with Yat Siu, Chairman of Animoca Brands, and Cathy Hackl, CEO of Future Dynamics, moderated by Wissam Younane, CEO, Entrepreneur Middle East.
“Sharing this year’s BGA State of the Industry Report in Abu Dhabi shows the promise and huge potential of blockchain gaming’s next phase, and MENA’s rapid growth is a big signal that new regions around the world are stepping into leadership roles,” said Borget. “What we’re seeing in the data is an industry becoming more global, more disciplined, and more focused on building great games for real players.”
MENA’s representation has surged from virtually no presence in the survey sample just five years ago — under 1% in 2021 — to 19.8% of respondents in 2025, marking the most pronounced regional shift since the survey began. When combined with Africa’s steady growth, rising from 0.5% in 2021 to 5.5% in 2025, the two regions now account for more than a quarter of all global responses to the survey.
This momentum reflects a broader realignment in the gaming and technology landscape. MENA has become one of the world’s fastest-growing gaming markets, underpinned by a youthful, digitally-native population and extensive government investment into gaming, esports, and digital infrastructure. As global capital increasingly flows into the region through strategic acquisitions, large-scale development initiatives, and major esports events, blockchain gaming’s rising professional footprint signals that MENA is actively shaping the future of the sector.
The BGA’s growth across MENA and Africa has been strongly attributed to the leadership and regional advocacy of Yasmina Kazitani, who was elected by the BGA membership as the organization’s first female Co-President in March 2025.
An Algerian-born ecosystem builder with deep ties across both regions, Kazitani has focused on community partnerships and grassroots outreach in emerging markets, broadening participation while championing access for previously underrepresented groups. She is also a long-standing advocate for gender diversity and inclusion as Co-Founder of the Women in Web3 Alliance, working to reduce barriers to entry and elevate female leadership within the industry.
“The survey results reflect what we see on the ground: new communities with new talent and stewardship,” said Kazitani. “With more voices entering the conversation, we are reminded that diverse representation is essential because this is what influences the ideas, products, and priorities that will define our industry’s next phase. A broader range of perspectives strengthens decision-making, contributes to a more resilient ecosystem, and ultimately underpins a global industry that better reflects its players and creates games that resonate across cultures.”
This increasing focus on diversity and broader participation was reflected directly in the survey methodology itself. For the first time, the BGA survey was offered in multiple languages beyond English, resulting in nearly a quarter of responses being submitted in other languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese, with the majority received in Arabic. This expansion has provided a more accurate picture of industry participation while lowering barriers to inclusion in non-English-speaking markets.
Beyond its geographic findings, the report provides a comprehensive snapshot of a maturing industry navigating a challenging market environment. Respondents highlight rising confidence in regulatory clarity as a key driver of growth, alongside an increasing focus on high-quality game development and sustainable business models. At the same time, industry professionals identify scams and fraud as the greatest threats to credibility, funding scarcity as the most pressing operational constraint, and AI-enabled exploitation as a growing concern.
Key takeaways from the BGA 2025 State of the Industry Report are highlighted below:
Respondent Demographics
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19.8% of respondents come from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), up from under 1% in 2021.
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22.7% female participation marks the highest level recorded in the survey’s history.
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32.6% of respondents work in studios or publishing, dominating industry representation.
Industry Drivers
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64.4% expect policy and regulation to have a positive impact on industry development.
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29.5% cite high-quality game launches as the primary driver of future industry success.
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27.5% point to sustainable, revenue-driven business models as a key growth factor.
Industry Challenges
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36.0% view scams and fraud as the greatest threat to industry credibility.
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32.6% report lack of funding or investment as their company’s biggest operational challenge.
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38.9% fear AI-enabled cheating, bots, and exploits as the largest risk of AI adoption.
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Prize AI Technologies, a pioneering Web3 company that integrates AI with physical entertainment machines and blockchain rewards, has launched $PRIZE utility token presale, raising over $100,000 in the first week. Targeting the $400 billion global arcade, casino, and vending market, Prize AI Technologies has built a full-stack ecosystem combining a consumer app, operator dashboard, staking and CertiK-audited smart contracts to reward customers, optimise operations and automate loyalty.
The $PRIZE Token Powers a comprehensive consumer app that enables direct connection to arcade machines, vending units and casino equipment. The platform supports fiat and crypto payments with integrated wallet and bank-withdrawal features, automatically delivering 4-cent crypto rewards per dollar spent. Users receive location-based alerts for nearby machines, promotions and giveaways through the app’s intelligent notification system.
The platform provides an AI-driven dashboard for venue operators, delivering insights on customer behaviour, peak hours and machine profitability. The system enables automated, real-time marketing campaigns with performance tracking capabilities and includes anomaly detection with proactive maintenance alerts. Through transparent profit-sharing, net profits flow directly to token holders via smart contracts.
The infrastructure features staking capabilities offering up to 33% APR real yields derived from verified machine revenue, all secured through a CertiK-audited innovative contract framework.
Presale participants can access Stage 1 pricing at $0.01 per token. The company has launched a $1.5 million airdrop, distributing 5000 tokens each to 2000 eligible users, with a double airdrop bonus of 10,000 tokens for purchases over $100. A 6 million token giveaway will also award 20 winners with 300,000 tokens each.
“We are modernizing an industry that is lagging in tech. With AI and $PRIZE, everyday machines become powerful marketing and rewards engines,” said a prize AI Technologies spokesperson.
The market opportunity spans a $400 billion industry with 1.9% CAGR growth over five years. Prize AI Technologies has selected Australia as its pilot market, leveraging over 200,000 arcade and vending machines. Future expansion phases target Japan’s $22.4 billion gaming market with 6.9% CAGR growth and Southeast Asia’s $14.8 billion gaming segment.
Prize AI Technologies delivers decentralised, AI-powered marketing, rewards and analytics tools worldwide for entertainment venues.
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Blockchain
Sovrun’s Vision Meets Hyperliquid’s Infrastructure and Virtuals’ AI: A New Era for Gaming
Sovrun’s vision takes a bold step forward with its groundbreaking milestone: one of the first gaming projects to secure a listing on Hyperliquid, a high-performance decentralized exchange redefining liquidity for digital assets.
Liquidity is the backbone of successful gaming economies. Hyperliquid is designed to not only deliver liquidity but also visibility for growing ecosystems, transforming game economies into robust financial systems.
Sovrun, formerly BreederDAO, helped define the rise of blockchain games by developing modular smart contracts that augmented, optimized, and automated in-game functionalities opening up unprecedented opportunities in gaming. Sovrun is well known for its Axie Infinity proprietary breeding bots that allowed them to supply over 120,000 in-game assets to 40,000 players, boosting player liquidity and driving growth.
In their next phase, Sovrun is empowering not only asset creation, but the co-creation of entire virtual worlds using blockchain, AI and modular infrastructure. Backed by prominent investors like a16z, Delphi Digital, Longhash and more, Sovrun is building an ecosystem where gaming communities can collaboratively create, govern, and evolve their digital experiences, broadening the possibilities of creator-driven economies.
Securing a listing on HyperLiquid is just the first step as they plan to strategically build fully on-chain gaming within the cutting-edge infrastructure of HyperEVM, an upcoming component of the HyperLiquid ecosystem. Sovrun’s L2 testnet is now fully live, and is one of the first Layer2s on Hyperliquid. By integrating HyperLiquid’s institutional-grade infrastructure with Sovrun’s growing platform, the project is setting the stage for a seamless convergence of gaming, blockchain, and financial liquidity.
Sovrun and Virtuals Joint Venture
While the HyperLiquid partnership is turning heads, the joint venture between Virtuals Protocol and Sovrun, known as Ready Gamer, is set to power up gaming by integrating AI-powered experiences into web3 ecosystems. Imagine an RPG where NPCs remember your choices across in-game years, their attitudes shifting dynamically, or a strategy game where AI opponents learn and adapt to your tactics with every session. Virtuals’ GAME framework, a decision-making engine enabling AI agents with dynamic interaction, forms the foundation of this collaboration.
Together, Virtuals and Sovrun are delivering unscripted, personalized, and deeply immersive gaming experiences.
Autonomous Worlds (AW), or self-sustaining, player driven ecosystems, are the focus as Sovrun unlocks new dimensions of interaction and scalability, still sorely lacking in the gaming ecosystem. Through Sovrun’s AW architecture, players and creators can shape, grow, and evolve their virtual worlds making them genuine architects of their gaming experiences.
Traditional games struggle with a heavy demand for fresh content, but AW offers a community led model where game elements can be continuously expanded and reshaped by the players themselves. But what exactly does that mean?
The Sovrun Participation Layer allows communities to engage and influence game economies, and Sovrun is acquiring assets of top projects like My Pet Hooligan, Pixels, and Azra Games to name a few. In the crowd-built virtual world EVE Frontier for example, Sovrun developed a system that allowed for the development of eSports ecosystems into the game itself.
Now, by integrating with HyperEVM, tapping into the HyperLiquid ecosystem, and partnering with Virtuals, Sovrun is amplifying its mission to create a self-sustaining ecosystem where creators don’t just participate in autonomous worlds—they build them. This collaboration ensures that Sovrun is not only positioned as a leader in Web3 gaming, but also as a catalyst for the global adoption of decentralized gaming economies. HyperEVM’s ability to support high-scale, on-chain transactions ensures Sovrun’s platform can meet the demands of a rapidly evolving digital economy while the joint venture with Virtuals adds an immersive layer of dynamic interactions set to reshape web3 gaming.
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