Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands acquired Pixowl (August 2018), the independent mobile game company behind the social metaverse platform "The Sandbox" built on Ethereum, which is one of the largest independent user-generated content platforms and gaming ecosystems. Users can explore as avatars, buy land, host experiences, interact with others, and earn cryptocurrency through gameplay. Its tools include the no-code “Game Maker” for 3D assets and “VoxEdit” for voxel-based NFT creation. The platform uses the SAND token for digital asset transactions. As of January 2024, The Sandbox was integrating GenAI tools to enhance content creation.

In 2024, Animoca Brands announced plans for a 2025 IPO in crypto-friendly regions like Hong Kong or the Middle East. Its subsidiary Eden Games launched the beta of Web3 kart racer Cosmic Royale in July as part of the Motorverse, Animoca’s digital vehicle and motorsport ecosystem. In September, the SEC expanded its lawsuit against Binance to include Animoca-backed The Sandbox (SAND) as a security.

Animoca Brands also operates OMA3 (Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3), a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on creating an open, borderless metaverse with members like Alien Worlds, Decentraland, and The Sandbox. It also runs Mocaverse, offering immersive experiences like games, NFTs, and VR, enabling users to create digital identities, build reputations, and earn/spend Realm Points.

For 2024, the company had a goal of adding 2,000 user generated content (UGC) experiences on its platform. To support this, the company fully opened up its platform to UGC in November 2023, by removing the initial application process for publishing experiences. The company also acquired game development studio Sviper (February 2023).

Animoca Brands reported bookings of USD 280 million in FY2023, a 30% YoY drop attributed to the slowdown of the overall Web3 market following the ‘crypto winter’. The Sandbox platform generated USD 64 million of bookings in FY2023 from the sale of its SAND token, and USD 5 million from the sale of NFTs.

Key customers and partnerships

As of December 2023, The Sandbox had over 5.8 million users and 280,000+ creators.

In June 2024, the company partnered with Futureverse to improve the latter's metaverse technology stack. Previously, in October 2023, the company partnered with engagement platform Agora to incorporate its 3D spatial audio, persistent text chat, and interactive live-streaming functionalities into The Sandbox. 

Other partnerships with notable brands to launch virtual experiences on the platform included that with Warner Music Group (December 2023) and Gucci and Lacoste (November 2023).