Sebastien Borget, the COO of the metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, took to Twitter earlier today to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia’s DGA. While few details were provided, Borget revealed the deal pertains to “exploring, advising and supporting mutually each other in activations of the Metaverse.”
Sandbox Makes a Metaverse Partnership With Saudi Arabia
Sandbox’s chief operating officer Sebastien Borget took to Twitter this Tuesday to announce the signing of an MOU with the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority (DGA). The agreement was reached at the 2023 LEAP Technology Conference and it involves the cooperation between the web3 gaming platform and the country when it comes to “exploring, advising and supporting mutually each other in activations of the Metaverse.”
It was a true honor to sign our MOU partnership ceremony between TheSandboxGame and the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority (DGA) during LEAP 2023 conference, and we look forward to exploring, advising and supporting mutually each other in activations of the Metaverse. Thank you again to the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority for hosting the ceremony during #leap2023.
While no other details were shared by the time of writing, the agreement signals that national organizations are increasingly willing to join the recent deluge of major legacy companies seeking to enter the metaverse. Just in 2023, Walmart filed for several blockchain trademarks for its subsidiary Sam’s Club, and it was reported that Amazon is working on its own web3 gaming and NFT initiative.
So far, South Korea has been one of the pioneering nations when it comes to web3. Last year in mid-October, it was reported that the country is planning to launch blockchain-based IDs for its citizens within the next few years. More recently, in January, Seul’s municipal government announced the creation of a metaverse version of South Korea’s capital.
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Sandbox Continues Its Metaverse Expansion
While 2022 became known as the “crypto winter”, Sandbox made several important moves throughout its duration. In late July, the company completed the migration of its smart contract to Polygon Layer 2 in an effort to reduce gas fees and improve its energy efficiency. The move also brought new staking rewards and a cashback program.
In mid-August, the platform made an important partnership when it signed a deal with Gordon Ramsay’s popular reality TV show Hell’s Kitchen. The partnership brought one of Britain’s most famous chefs into the metaverse and unleashed the cooking show-themed assets and even limited edition Ramsay avatars.
More recently, the firm joined the worldwide effort to deliver aid to horrendously earthquake-stricken Syria and Turkey. Earlier this Tuesday, Sandbox’s COO tweeted about the arrival of a company truck carrying relief supplies to the Hatay region in Turkey. The wider crypto community has also made major contributions to the rescue and relief effort donating about $370,000 on February 6th alone.
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About the author
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird’s US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.