Ocean Park makes way into The Sandbox, while Ubisoft introduces IP elements to metaverse

Ocean Park has made its way into The Sandbox, a leading decentralised gaming virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, to create ground-breaking digital entertainment experiences in the virtual world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming. “As Ocean Park celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2022, the Park is transforming itself in many innovative ways. Not only are we revamping the Park into brand-new retail, dining and entertainment, wellness and adventure zones, but we are also heading into the metaverse to reimagine the way we engage consumers, the way they connect with one another, and their adventures at Ocean Park,” said Ivan Wong, CEO of Ocean Park.

“Our partnership with The Sandbox is one of the new initiatives that the Park has embarked on and a strategic move for the brand. It empowers the Park to develop immersive experiences, events and products in formats never before seen, and venture into new business areas made possible by technology. We will fill our virtual land at The Sandbox with creative content and offerings that are distinctively Ocean Park. We are confident that our fans and the NFT community will welcome the opportunity to explore Ocean Park in a whole new dimension while creating and sharing their user-generated content on our platform,” continued Wong.

Sebastien Borget, COO & co-founder of The Sandbox, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Ocean Park to The Sandbox metaverse. As one of Asia's most dynamic leisure and resort destinations, Ocean Park also plays an iconic role in Hong Kong's cultural and entertainment landscape. We will work with them on setting the first example of how entertainment can be leveraged with NFTs and play-and-earn to engage and reward both local visitors and those from around the globe.”

Meanwhile The Sandbox has partnered with Ubisoft to introduce Ubisoft game IP elements to The Sandbox gaming metaverse.

Ubisoft will have its own LAND entertainment destination with interactive experiences, and voxel characters and items will also be available for players and creators to incorporate into their own experiences using The Sandbox’s free VoxEdit and Game Maker #nocode creation tools.

Work is already underway to create voxelised versions of Rabbids’ characters and items. The following video showcases a glimpse of the eager Rabbids as they prepare to enter The Sandbox map to appear in the Ubisoft LAND and join original experiences created by players.

“We’re excited to bring the Rabbids to The Sandbox community and to empower players to create their own original experiences incorporating elements of our gaming IP. We can’t wait to see how they make the Rabbids’ world their own,” said Guillaume Mammi, Ubisoft’s senior manager of new business and partnerships. “The Sandbox is an obvious new fun playground addition to the long list of Rabbids world invasions, and a great opportunity for Ubisoft to experiment a metaverse experience for its brands.”​

“Ubisoft is a global game company that proved its ability to stay at the forefront of innovation and established its reputation by launching successful franchises and IPs. We’re proud to help it bring the Rabbids, an IP that players already love, and empower its community of fans to create fun experiences and their own original adventures in The Sandbox,” said Sebastien Borget, COO and Co-Founder of The Sandbox. “We welcome Ubisoft into the open Metaverse as we work together to create new possibilities for players, fans, and creators with blockchain and web3.”

​“I’m very proud that Ubisoft, one of the most innovative gaming brands that’s globally known for creating numerous iconic game franchises, has chosen The Sandbox metaverse for its very first move into this new kind of interactive experience,” said Bertrand Levy, VP Global Partnerships of The Sandbox.     

The Sandbox offers a start-to-finish game development and asset creation suite, which doesn’t require any prior game development knowledge. Anyone can build worlds and assets in The Sandbox, creating this truly user-generated metaverse.

Part amusement park, part virtual real estate, The Sandbox fully embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space where worlds and heroes collide to make magic. Ubisoft joins over 200 existing partnerships including The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Warner Music Group, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, ZEPETO, and CryptoKitties, all following The Sandbox team’s vision of empowering players to create their own experiences using both original and well-known characters and worlds.

Most recently, The Sandbox, has added eight partners in Hong Kong to create its cultural hub Mega City. The partners are from the film, music, entertainment, acting, professional services, finance, real estate, and gaming sectors. The Sandbox said Mega City will be a cultural hub based on or inspired by multiple Hong Kong talents.

The Sandbox also received US$93million in investment led by Softbank Vision Fund 2. In a media statement, Sandbox said the investment will be used to grow its creators' economy. The Sandbox adopts a play-to-earn model that allows users to play, build, own and monetise their experiences on a virtual LAND they own using NFTs and $SAND (Sandbox's utility token). 

With the investment, in the upcoming year, Sandbox plans to progressively open the metaverse to LAND owners who have built high-quality experiences. It also plans to launch its first virtual concert featuring artists such as Snoop Dog in the second quarter of 2022, along with the launch of The Walking Dead game.  In the upcoming year, the company will also launch a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) with staking and voting mechanisms for $SAND, LAND, and AVATAR holders, which will provide players and creators with more control over the metaverse. By the end of 2022, Sandbox plans to make the metaverse available to mobile users.

Meanwhile Ubisoft Singapore was recently investigated by Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP). Following an investigation, TAFEP said the company has a structured system in place to handle any workplace misconduct reports and past reports were handled appropriately. The agency also stated that the employees’ salaries were performance-based. This follows claims of workplace discrimination and sexual harassment against the company last year.

TAFEP said that Ubisoft Singapore was fully cooperative throughout the investigation.

Related articles
Animoca Brands leads funding for startup accelerator Brinc
NWD's Adrian Cheng invests in virtual real estate through Animoca Brands
K-pop music enters metaverse with HK gaming company Animoca Brands
HK gaming group Animoca Brands bags US$65m funding amidst NFT and metaverse craze