The Sandbox, a leading decentralised gaming virtual world and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is excited to collaborate as a Proud Supporting Partner of AIA Carnival, one of the largest outdoor events in Hong Kong. This partnership involves the integration of IRL (in real life) activities and virtual platforms, offering visitors a unique and engaging experience across both domains.
Together with The Sandbox and metaverse studio Index Game, AIA Carnival will publish a single-player interactive game in the metaverse of The Sandbox, expanding the fun and games of the real-life AIA Carnival. This experience will be a celebration of the Hong Kong festive spirit, showcasing all the excitement of Hong Kong’s iconic elements and featuring a unique storyline built around Chinese New Year and the upcoming Year of the Dragon. Players will have the opportunity to win in-game wearables and passes in the form of NFTs, as well as tickets to the real-life AIA Carnival.
“We are delighted to partner with The Sandbox to bring the spirit of the AIA Carnival to the metaverse. And at the same time, we will bring The Sandbox to real-life in surprising new ways at the Carnival,” said Randy Bloom, CEO of Great China Entertainment Group, the organiser of the AIA Carnival. “Our event welcomes over 1 million visitors each year who can now combine the familiarity of the real-life carnival with the limitless possibilities of the virtual world. We always look to put smiles across all our visitors’ faces and we are looking forward to doing this in the digital realm too.”
Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating: “The partnership between The Sandbox and the AIA Carnival is a testament to the power of the metaverse to create experiences that seamlessly blend the real and the virtual. As the AIA Carnival returns for the first time in four years, visitors can now enjoy the AIA Carnival in-person on the Central Harbourfront – and also on The Sandbox platform.”
In addition to providing the immersive experience in its virtual world, The Sandbox will also showcase digital experiences at the real-life AIA Carnival. Visitors will be able to engage in dance battles using avatars and enjoy interactive elements that bridge the gap between the physical and digital realms. In addition, there will be educational 3D voxel modeling workshops for all ages, metaverse build competitions with winning entries showcased on The Sandbox map, and a live voxel creative contest adding an extra layer of excitement to the traditional AIA Carnival experience.
Potentially a first for Hong Kong at an event of this scale, attendees at this year’s AIA Carnival will have the opportunity to make rapid and cost-effective cryptocurrency payments, thanks to a collaboration with crypto payments solution hi.com. Visitors will be able to purchase popcorn or drinks with The Sandbox’s SAND tokens, allowing the utility token to have physical world applications.
“The partnership between AIA Carnival and The Sandbox sets a new standard for integrating the metaverse with real-life events, offering visitors a seamless and immersive journey between the offline and online worlds,” added Borget.
Both the user experience with crypto tokens for everyday payments and the process of vendor onboarding have been greatly simplified for the AIA Carnival. Visitors engaging in several quests at The Sandbox booth can swiftly open an account on The Sandbox and receive a CashHash card. This card allows them to redeem SAND for using at the event or for storing in their hi.com wallet. Vendors enjoy a streamlined five-minute procedure to register as merchants with hi.com and accept SAND from consumers by scanning the QR code on their CashHash cards.