The Sandbox Partners with Hong Kong Universities for Metaverse Education and Growth

The metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has teamed up with two Hong Kong higher education institutions, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI). The move marks the metaverse’s next phase of growth amid the decreased global interest in the metaverse.

The two educational institutions are joining The Sandbox’s Mega City 3, which launches later this month. The Sandbox has entered into memorandums of understanding with schools, and HKDI conducted a signing ceremony at its Tseung Kwan campus.

One of the metaverse courses in HKDI is called “Metaverse: Creating digital assets in The Sandbox.” The learning outcome of this course encompasses a comprehensive understanding of the workflow and creative market within the metaverse industry, including NFT, GameFi, and The Sandbox. Students will learn to produce digital 3D assets tailored to the metaverse environment. Furthermore, they will develop the ability to create animations and render them using appropriate visualization tools for the metaverse. 

According to the Hong Kong-based company, Mega City will strongly emphasize education. Schools will use newly acquired virtual land to educate students on the metaverse. Some planned programs include a virtual graduation ceremony for HKDI, scientific programs, and gaming experiences at HKUST. The Sandbox will also hold seminars and workshops with students at each school.

The Sandbox’s new partnerships and upcoming Mega City 3 launch coincide with the virtual world’s plans to allow anyone to participate in any experience at any time and self-publish content without the company’s involvement.

Despite a decrease in the hype surrounding the metaverse and a drop in cryptocurrency and NFT values over the last year, The Sandbox aims to demonstrate that its metaverse and crypto token, Sand, are not just temporary trends. Moreover, the platform was not significantly impacted by the crypto winter.

Last year, HKUST revealed plans for a new VR class as part of its MetaHKUST project, which sought to connect its campuses in Hong Kong and Guangzhou through a metaverse platform.

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