The Sandbox, an immersive gaming platform and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has opened pre-registration for the playtest of The Sandbox NEXT, marking a return to the franchise’s roots after 40 million historical downloads on mobile.
The Sandbox NEXT offers multiplayer extraction and survival mobile gameplay in which players carry over their identity, progression and all the voxel assets from The Sandbox game platform, including UGC and branded items from the broader player-driven ecosystem of The Sandbox, where player avatars from over 56 collections of branded Avatars – including Snoop Dogg, Attack on Titan, Smiley, Steve Aoki, Paris Hilton, Smurf – extend beyond a single match.
The Sandbox NEXT will serve as a new entry point into The Sandbox, which has more than 400 brand and IP partners spanning gaming, music, fashion and culture, including Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft and Lacoste.
Season 7 of The Sandbox, which is currently ongoing, introduced three browser-based games as a frictionless entry point to The Sandbox ecosystem. Now, with the playtest – built on Unreal Engine, after historically using Unity – The Sandbox is taking steps to integrate additional experiences via mobile.
“Like our recent launch of WebGL games, The Sandbox NEXT is part of our plan to increase the reach of The Sandbox so players can discover, play and come back more often, whether they’re on desktop or on their phone,” said Robby Yung, CEO of The Sandbox. “The goal is to meet people where they spend their time. A native mobile experience in addition to the desktop version makes that possible in a way browser access alone can’t.”
Registration for The Sandbox NEXT playtest is now open, with limited spots assigned on a first-come first-served basis. The playtest begins on 26 March, with additional features rolling out as The Sandbox NEXT evolves.
Steve is an award-winning editor and copywriter with more than 20 years’ experience specialising in consumer technology and video games. With a career spanning from the first PlayStation to the latest in VR, he's proud to be a lifelong gamer.
