The Sandbox Announces “Voxel Games”–A New Program to Bring Top Indie Developers and Studios into Voxel-Style Gaming

COLOGNE – September 4th, 2024 – The Sandbox, an immersive metaverse platform and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has announced the launch of its new ‘Voxel Games’ program following the Gamescom conference in Cologne today. Through Voxel Games, The Sandbox will be expanding the boundaries of its ecosystem by partnering with renowned indie developers and studios to create widely available games in its distinctive voxel style. Studio partners at launch include FRAG Games and The Devhouse Agency, with more to be announced in the coming months.

With this announcement, The Sandbox ecosystem is now better equipped to support even more creators. Through existing creation tools like VoxEdit and Game Maker, first-time creators have been able to build voxel-based assets, games, and experiences without any coding experience. Thanks to the Voxel Games program, professional game studios and indie developers can now enjoy the same creative freedom to develop voxel-style games using Unity, Unreal, HTML5, or other game engines of their choice beyond The Sandbox’s no-code creation tools. These games can also be made available to play on other stores and platforms. 

By inviting its partners to build voxel-style games beyond its platform, The Sandbox furthers its mission of an Open Metaverse. This initiative marks a new era of interoperability and growth for both The Sandbox platform and its user base. Additionally, it offers gamers a smooth and optional bridge to Web3, without the complexity of blockchain development and onboarding. This program will further drive and support the ecosystem of creators in The Sandbox by providing them access to the wider gaming world. 

While all the games will remain true to the platform’s focus on avatar-centric gameplay, the Voxel Games program will pursue projects across a range of devices including Mobile, Web, and PC, widening distribution possibilities to traditional platforms. Game projects will utilize traditional game monetization mechanics including free-to-play, microtransactions, in-app purchases, and ads, while also incorporating the blockchain components of The Sandbox such as accepting its SAND utility token and its player-owned digital assets, such as avatars, LANDs, and voxel asset NFTs.

“This is an exciting opportunity to realize our vision of the metaverse, where players can acquire, own, and use their digital assets across multiple games and platforms–beyond The Sandbox,” said Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-Founder of The Sandbox. “Engaging with indie developers and veteran game studios brings fresh ideas or proven gameplays to the table and helps us grow the widespread adoption of Web3 through voxel-style games.”

The Voxel Games program will allow indie studios to develop games utilizing the underlying technology and game engines of their choice while being able to leverage and benefit from The Sandbox’s significant existing communities and ecosystem, including:

• 6M+ user accounts with 4.8M+ crypto wallets, 
• 25K+ LAND owners, 
• 55K+ avatar owners, and 
• 290K+ SAND holders. 

This, in turn, presents the opportunity to symbiotically increase the utility and adoption of the SAND token beyond the current The Sandbox platform, which is already a Top 10 gaming token by market capitalization according to CoinMarketCap at the time of publishing.

The Sandbox boasts over 170K voxel asset owners and 1.7M assets already created. Through the Voxel Games program, projects will gain exposure to 400+ partner brands, offering studios access to valuable intellectual property. Existing users of The Sandbox will benefit from being able to use their assets across a new portfolio of games, reinforcing The Sandbox's vision where players can connect their wallets and utilize their owned and branded digital assets—avatars, equipment, wearables, and more—across multiple platforms and games.

Beyond utilization, in-game benefits for users from The Sandbox will be designed into Voxel Games projects, such as exclusive skins, props, and accessories, access to certain areas within the upcoming releases, and more.

“FRAG Games believes in The Sandbox's vision that the metaverse should exist for shared experiences, unbound by any single platform. The next generation of 'metaverse games' will be just 'games',” said Ali Ihsan, CEO of FRAG Games. “Gamers will enjoy their great gameplay, iconic voxel aesthetics, and an invested community. Along the way, they will interact with the chain, tokens, and exchanges [...] in the background."

"We are thrilled to partner with The Sandbox, bringing our passion and expertise in game development to their vibrant Web3 ecosystem," said Jim Welch, Founder of Devhouse. "I believe this collaboration can elevate Web3 gaming by leveraging IP and digital ownership, with deeply fun gameplay. We look forward to engaging with The Sandbox community and contributing to the expanding universe of the Metaverse!"

The Sandbox continues to actively review and refine the process for the Voxel Games program. Initial guidelines and the submission form can be found here, with further updates coming in the weeks ahead. Currently, developer and studio selection is by referral only and not open to the public. The first Voxel Game titles are expected to be released in 2025. Follow The Sandbox on X, Instagram, Medium, and Discord for the latest updates.

About The Sandbox

The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is an immersive metaverse platform in which users play, create, and monetize unique experiences alongside their favorite brands, IPs, and celebrities across gaming, entertainment, music, art, and more. The Sandbox leverages web3 technologies to fully enable end-user creation and creator economies, disrupting existing platforms by providing both players and creators with true ownership of their assets, creations, and rewards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Over 400 partners have joined The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft, Paris Hilton, The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Lacoste, Steve Aoki, The Smurfs, Attack on Titan, and many more. 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 2023, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gaming. The company has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Bondly, and Lympo. In addition, Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 150 investments in blockchain 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.