PCCW and HKT enter The Sandbox metaverse world

Communications company PCCW and telco company HKT have partnered with The Sandbox to acquire a Hong Kong inspired virtual land in Mega city and join the metaverse. Upon purchasing a Hong-Kong inspired neighbourhood in The Sandbox, the collaboration of the two brands is set to launch the world’s first virtual 5G mobile network and transform traditional film, TV and music content into a Web3-enabled new form of entertainment.

The collaboration also enables PCCW and HKT to explore new business opportunities, and the two companies promised to introduce more new-age financial and health technologies, plus eCommerce solutions, to build a fascinating virtual “metacommunity”, which will deliver an entirely new 5G-enabled entertainment experience.

Susanna Hui, acting group managing director of PCCW and group managing director of HKT, said: “PCCW and HKT are constantly making breakthroughs to remain at the global forefront of innovative technology applications. We are pleased to partner with The Sandbox to enter the metaverse and explore Web3, where we can seize the boundless opportunities manifesting in different aspects of our daily lives.”

Sebastien Borget, COO & co-founder of The Sandbox, said: “We’re excited to see PCCW and HKT enter the Metaverse and educate their large 5G and broadband userbase on the innovations from NFT ownership and Web3 gaming.” He believes the heart of Mega City's neighbourhood is a vibrant cultural hub where the two brands can bring more talent, players and content, shaping the future of the open decentralized platform together.

The Sandbox is a decentralised gaming virtual world and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, and has bagged new partners for its second phase of the metaverse Mega City 2. 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.

To celebrate these partnerships, The Sandbox  launched a new LAND Sale on 28 April 2022, which allowed players to buy LANDs and become a part of the Mega City neighborhood. Following the success of Mega City 1, Animoca Brands said that it continues to bring in the city’s talents to the cultural hub with the expansion of the Mega City into its second phase.

Meanwhile, PCCW's new subsidiary MakerVille has plans on expanding content formats and cultivation.  The Hong Kong based media company previously said that MakerVille would be focused on content creation, artiste management and events, while providing ViuTV with innovative and quality content. It also has ambitions of exploring production partnerships and opportunities beyond Hong Kong. Although ViuTV is known for reality shows, MakerVille is planning to explore creative TV programmes of different formats and will launch its first movie Seer. 

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