Mang E/Lana Brow/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks
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The metaverse is long over.
And yet, it’s always been here, since the dawn of the internet. You’re in the metaverse as you read this.
The metaverse in the 2022-era sense of the word was little more than a fancy marketing play around rebranding VR. But every video game, every livestream, and every social media app is arguably all part of the existing metaverse that is the internet.
Paradoxically, the metaverse as corporate executives imagined it never materialized, because it was already here this whole time.
Today we’re unpacking some details about what’s been going on at The Sandbox, one of the OG crypto metaverse projects, and the massive overhaul it now faces.
Ethereum-based metaverse land game The Sandbox is being gutted and restructured, facing layoffs and executive changes as Animoca Brands reshapes its future.
The crypto newsletter TheBigWhale first reported the news on Wednesday. Animoca Brands confirmed to Blockworks that a “restructuring” has occurred.
Animoca Brands has laid off over half of The Sandbox’s 250 employees and moved the game’s co-founders — Sébastien Borget and Arthur Madrid — into new roles.
Animoca CEO Robby Yung was internally appointed The Sandbox’s new CEO about two weeks ago, TheBigWhale notes, with an internal source adding that Borget and Madrid “no longer have executive powers” in their new roles.
In a statement shared with Blockworks, Animoca confirmed the role changes but said that both of The Sandbox’s cofounders “remain deeply involved” with the project.
Borget is taking on the role of “ambassador,” while Madrid is taking a “chairman” role. In a phone call with TheBigWhale, Borget reportedly said: “I remain the person who best represents The Sandbox around the world.”
Borget did not respond to my request for comment.
Animoca suggested in its statement to Blockworks that the layoffs may have been in part due to generative AI.
“The impact of AI advancements in the gaming industry has been well documented: AI allows us to accelerate our deployment of content, features and LiveOps while maintaining a leaner, more agile team,” Animoca’s statement reads.
It continues: “While decisions that impact personnel are always difficult are never made lightly, they are necessary to adapt to technological advances and ensure The Sandbox’s long-term success.”
The Sandbox employees in Argentina, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay are among those most impacted by the layoffs.
It’s currently unclear how many offices The Sandbox has open — but I was able to independently verify that The Sandbox has had offices in at least a half-dozen different cities around the world, with offices reported in at least nine.
TheBigWhale’s reporting notes that the game’s offices in Lyon, France are expected to close. Offices in Argentina, Uruguay, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey are also being closed.
A page on the interior design site OfficeSnapshots published last year details how interior design firm Koko3 decorated The Sandbox’s lavish 8,611 square-foot space in Culver City, Los Angeles. The space features arrangements of plush modern chairs, glass-walled meeting rooms and digital screens displaying Bored Ape NFTs.
The Sandbox’s website confirms the game company has a corporate office in Paris, a game development office in Buenos Aires, an office in Maldonado, Uruguay focused on web operations, plus additional offices in Seoul and London, as well as a “presence” in Hamburg, Germany.
But now, at least six of The Sandbox’s many offices are expected to close as a result of the massive restructuring at the company.
Animoca confirmed to Blockworks that four offices have been closed, and says The Sandbox will still have “a formal presence” in 9 locations globally.
As a blockchain gaming publisher and investor, Animoca is one of The Sandbox’s biggest financial backers. It is The Sandbox’s main shareholder, according to TheBigWhale’s report.
Animoca has offices in Hong Kong and Australia, with its Hong Kong office recently becoming “the size of 10 tennis courts” late last year.
Animoca has raised over $860 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase data, with its most recent round being a $358.9 million round in 2022 that put it at a pre-money valuation of $5.1 billion.
A source told TheBigWhale that Animoca spent $300 million on The Sandbox in the past eight years, and isn’t impressed with how things have gone. The Sandbox is still believed to have anywhere from $100 million to $300 million, primarily in ETH and stablecoins.
Despite all that cash, however, The Sandbox hasn’t seen many players. A source told TheBigWhale that “many” of the game’s “few hundred” remaining daily users “are bots in South America.”
But even back in the metaverse heyday, reports suggest The Sandbox’s crypto game version had never really seen a userbase that compared to Decentraland or Axie Infinity — and certainly nowhere near the non-crypto metaverse giants like Minecraft, Roblox, and VRChat.
The Sandbox is reportedly pivoting to building crypto apps. A pump.fun-inspired memecoin launchpad that uses Base is in the works.
“From the outset we’ve held to our line on gaming, but you have to take market developments into account,” Borget told TheBigWhale.
It’s unclear what will happen to the game’s SAND token. Its price has remained flat in the past day, and is down 4% in the past month.
Has The Sandbox’s crypto-powered metaverse vision been officially put to rest after so many years? It sounds like it.
But Animoca insists: “The Sandbox is not pivoting away from its core mission, and we are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Madrid and Yung did not respond to my requests for comment.
