Animoca Brands subsidiary, The Sandbox, has announced a series of new partners for the second phase of Hong Kong’s cultural hub in the metaverse – Mega City 2.
For the second phase of the Mega City metaverse, the project has partnered with players from different sectors such as tourism, hospitality, culture, media, education, banking, investment, music and entertainment.
The “Culturally Vibrant” Metaverse
In the latest blog post, the metaverse investor and NFT game publisher revealed the names of the new entrants in the Mega City’s expansion into the second phase. They consist of Standard Chartered, Ocean Park, Regal Hotels Group, Tatler Asia, EVI, Brinc, MADworld, Gameone, Chord Hero, Time Gates of Hong Kong Pop Culture, and UFO School.
Sébastien Borget, co-founder and COO of the Softbank-backed gaming company, said:
“Our new partners bring some of the best of what makes Hong Kong a multi-cultural, vibrant city while sharing our creative vision of building an open metaverse. They are reinventing themselves and innovating through The Sandbox platform to offer unique virtual experiences.”
The Sandbox also plans to launch a new LAND sale on April 28 to allow players to purchase LAND and become part of the Mega City neighborhood.
The latest development comes three months after the metaverse platforms first announced the creation of the first phase of Mega City. As reported earlier, the end goal is to expand Hong Kong’s culture into the metaverse. As part of the ambitious project, The Sandbox forged partnerships with the city’s heavy-weights across various industries of film, music, entertainment, acting, professional services, gaming, etc.
Metaverse Madness
Last week, reports suggested The Sandbox was looking to raise $400 million at a $4 billion valuation from new and existing investors. The creators of the blockchain-based gaming company – Animoca Brands – have also been making a lot of noise, especially with their acquisition spree.
Since the beginning of the year, Animoca has added development studios Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, and Grease Monkey Games to its growing list.
Several tech leaders are planning to grab a slice of a multi-billion dollar market opportunity. The expanding gaming space, along with the increased adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), is fueling the growth of the global metaverse market. Some of the major players operating in the global metaverse market are Facebook, Tencent, Nvidia Corporation, Epic Games, Roblox Corporation, Unity Technologies, etc.
