The Sandbox, FlickPlay Announce Interoperable NFT Collection by End of 2022

Metaverse games The Sandbox and FlickPlay have partnered to create an NFT collection interoperable between both games. The collectibles feature an anthropomorphic chameleon named Flicky, who wears various combinations of clothing.

The First Physical-World NFT

As reported by Reuters, some of the users that acquire Flicky will be able to use it as their Sandbox avatar.

The Sandbox is a 3D virtual world where users can build assets and buy land on the Ethereum blockchain. Its platform has grown to support over 2 million users, and hosts concerts and music videos for famous artists like Snoop Dogg.

Meanwhile, FlickPlay lets users watch their NFT make contact with the physical world using an interactive map of the user’s real-world surroundings. The NFT gets overlaid onto those surroundings using a phone camera, with which users can make NFT videos and other content.

Flicky represents FlickPlay’s first NFT collection. NFTs – or “non-fungible tokens” – are unique digital assets that verify their user’s ownership on a blockchain.

Using decentralized blockchains as a base layer for these assets, many companies are experimenting with making the same assets interoperable between multiple games. The concept of free passage between virtual worlds with the same belongings is a central tenet of the “Metaverse”.

Pierina Merino – founder and chief executive of FlickPlay – claims Flicky NFTs should be usable on both games by the end of the year, but be available for The Sandbox first.

Meanwhile, The Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget called the integration the first bridge between a virtual world asset, and usage linked to the physical world. He added that it would help “create a more immersive experience that extends into the metaverse and The Sandbox.”

NFTs and Gaming

Major investments in NFT gaming are already happening, and the popularity of blockchain-based games is growing strong. On the other hand, the gaming community has proven quite hostile to the entrance of NFTs into existing gaming environments.

For example, Ubisoft Quartz launched an NFT collection related to Tom Clancy’s “Ghost Recon Breakpoint” in December. However, within two weeks after launch, the collection had barely pulled in 15 sales, worth only $400.

Other gaming giants attempting NFT integration have been met with massive backlash. Under community pressure, Discord was forced to withdraw its support for Ethereum NFTs on its platform in November.