The Sandbox to launch a metaverse in Dubai and other major cities around the world

What’s new? The Sandbox project, owned by developer Animoca Brands, will bring its Hong Kong-based metaverse strategy to a new market in Dubai by launching Dubaiverse. The company’s representatives told this at the 62nd edition of the True Global Ventures Conference on September 15, Forkast reports. Dubai’s virtual world will be created in the image of “Mega City,” a gaming metaverse and virtual cultural hub, created in the image of the financial hub of Hong Kong.

Forkast’s material

What else does the publication report? According to an Animoca Brands spokesperson, Dubaiverse will be built around local partnerships, which is similar to the strategy adopted in Hong Kong. Animoca will partner with companies in the film, music, entertainment, finance, real estate, and gaming industries.

According to Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of Sandbox Paris, metaverses linked to Singapore, South Korea, and Turkey are also in development.

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), established in March 2022, reportedly became the first buyer of a land plot in the Dubaiverse. Borget cited this collaboration as a key factor in allowing Sandbox to attract other major local partners and brands.

Mehtap Onder, managing director for Dubai at GCEX, a digital brokerage, said the firm will also enter the metaverse. It will offer innovative virtual asset education.

In addition, the Dubaiverse will have a local news partner, the Khaleej Times newspaper. In Hong Kong, The Sandbox partners with the South China Morning Post.

What is known about The Sandbox? The project was released as a mobile game in 2011 and a PC version was added in 2015. In 2018, The Sandbox was bought by Animoca Brands and began working on an Ethereum-based blockchain version. The platform has the native token SAND. As of September 16, 12:55 UTC, the asset is trading at $0,8665, down by 2,13% in 24 hours, according to Binance. The Sandbox is the third-largest metaverse, according to Metaverse Rating. The project has a market capitalization of $1,3 billion.

In September, Singapore’s largest bank, DBS Bank, entered into a partnership with The Sandbox. As part of it, DBS will create its own interactive virtual world called BetterWorld, which will become an additional platform for the bank to disseminate information about important environmental, social, and governance issues and attract attention to communities and partners that are addressing them.