Enter sandbox

 

For those who don’t know, The Sandbox is a leading virtual universe-based game that launched this past November. The brand is not entirely new, though: it has actually been around in several iterations for almost a decade. This one is interesting because it blends in metaverse / virtual reality principles with NFT / blockchain technology, which is not entirely unique but still somewhat new (for now). Also, in case you were wondering, the very name comes from the genre the game is classified in: one where you essentially get to do what you want as a player. Pretty fitting for this metaverse era, if you ask us…

Now, the reason we discuss immersive gaming platforms is not gaming — sorry to disappoint. At it happens, The Sandbox recently struck a deal with Warner Music Group, one of the world’s three majors. In other words, and apologies in advance for the pun, it’s major. And why would a record label, especially of this size, be interested in virtual gaming worlds, I perhaps hear you ask? That’s actually not such a crazy idea: the new duo is set to create a specific world on the platform that would be entirely dedicated to music (from the Warner catalogue, of course), where artists could interact with fans, play live (virtual) concerts, sell NFTs associated with their work… In other words, the future of music festivals, Spotify and brand partnerships combined.

Well, that’s not entirely true: no virtual world will ever replace a live concert by Ed Sheeran (a Warner music artist, incidentally, along with Dua Lipa or the recently much-talked about Neil Young). But that’s beside the point: The Sandbox’s new music-theme world is not designed to challenge live performances, but rather create a new way to reach out to music fans through more creative — and newer — means. The idea for artists to be able to interact with listeners in such a manner is an exciting extension of the experience that social media so far provides. And selling NFT-related items can bring a new revenue stream, which is nothing to sneeze at, especially in this day and age (let’s remember that the debate over streaming royalties is far from over).

So, there you have it: in this new era of tech-meets-counterculture, you could theoretically have a virtual concert by Neil Young on a gaming platform where they also sell NFTs to his work. Well, maybe not Neil Young, but you get the gist…