Crypto gaming ecosystem and metaverse platform The Sandbox is reducing the boundaries to entry in its Season 7 rollout, enabling customers to affix choose video games instantly from their browser with out requiring downloads, installations, or an account.
The brand new season launch may even function no less than 20 creator-built experiences alongside a mixture of these from established IP from companions, together with Atari, “Black Mirror,” musician Steve Aoki, “The Terminator,” and the Bruce Lee property.
“Accessibility is unquestionably on the core of the launch of the season,” The Sandbox and Animoca Manufacturers CEO Robby Yung informed Decrypt.
Subsequent Season is nearly right here 🔥
Season 7 drops quickly, the place the previous meets the long run. Two eras collide. Which can you select? pic.twitter.com/qNbjl9eEXH
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) February 19, 2026
“One of many challenges that we have had because the very earliest days is that we wished to make this a user-generated content material (UGC) platform for everyone,” he added. “However I believe now we have been held again prior to now, actually, by the type of technical infrastructure that we put in place that we constructed it with.”
The crew behind The Sandbox, which was acquired by Animoca Manufacturers in 2018, has discovered loads within the final seven years. In response to Yung, who took over the CEO position final August, the sport is “type of an previous product” by blockchain requirements. Since launch, the crew acknowledged that “easy issues”—like requiring massive file downloads—can dissuade gamers from leaping in and taking part in.
A screenshot from The Sandbox Season 7. Picture: The Sandbox
“It is a lot simpler if individuals can bounce right into a browser immediately and have interaction within the expertise rapidly,” Yung stated. “One of many issues we’re actually happy about is the browser-level potential to simply bounce proper into The Sandbox. I believe it’s going to make an enormous distinction, particularly for people who find themselves new to the expertise.”
And whereas the builders will probably be watching a number of totally different metrics to guage the season, Yung stated that retention—or the flexibility to deliver individuals again to the sport—will probably be of key significance.
“It is actually about creating engagement that results in retention because the north star metric,” he stated.
With retention, Yung stated that hopefully revenues ought to comply with and create the potential for impression on token value as effectively—although he reiterated that every one else is secondary to the sport’s retention fee.
The value of $SAND is down roughly 78% over the past yr, per CoinGecko, amid a tricky stretch in crypto gaming marked by funding broadly drying up throughout the business. Many blockchain-based video games shut down in 2025 and into early 2026 attributable to components together with a scarcity of funding and low participant retention charges.
Gamers in The Sandbox ecosystem that preserve coming again can have the chance to earn rewards in Season 7 as effectively, which is highlighted by a prize pool of greater than 650,000 $SAND or round $52,000 value primarily based on the ecosystem token’s present value.
A screenshot from The Sandbox Season 7. Picture: The Sandbox
“We’re actually excited,” stated Yung of the Season 7 launch. “I believe that is going to be one of the best season but so far as content material goes. And I believe most significantly, it is all concerning the creators on the finish of the day. Having greater than 50% of the content material coming from creators now, I believe, is an overdue milestone for us.”
The ecosystem’s rising embrace of user-generated content material mirrors that of different profitable gaming platforms like Minecraft and Roblox. Whereas The Sandbox has leaned on distinguished manufacturers and IP to drive curiosity throughout all of its seasons, the purpose is in the end for builders of all types to come back in and create an ever-evolving array of experiences.
“We need to be a spot the place it is not simply us making content material that individuals take pleasure in and have enjoyable with. It is also a spot the place any third-party, any participant or skilled developer, can come and create cool stuff and have interaction audiences—and achieve this in a method that advantages them,” he stated.
“It is precisely what massive platforms like Roblox are doing each day. However we need to achieve this in a method that is true to our Web3 values,” Yung added. “That principally signifies that there are low take charges, low transaction prices, and low infrastructure prices—so the profit goes again to the creators and the IP holders.”
