Roblox vs. Sandbox: Who Is The Leader?
By 2030, “a large proportion of people will be in the metaverse somehow,” says Melanie Subin, a director at The Future Today Institute in New York City.
While analysts predict exponential growth of the segment, more and more projects emerge on the horizon that intend to make the metaverse adoption as seamless and exciting as possible. One of such projects, or rather metaverses, are Roblox and Sandbox.
Even though Sandbox is a “crypto-embedded” project, unlike Roblox, which is in no rush to introduce NFTs, both projects have a similar future-proof concept: to make the game world without barriers and limits, taking it to a whole new level — a metaverse-based one.
What are these virtual worlds, and what are the benefits of each? Keep reading the OneArt guide to finding the answers.
Sandbox — one of the metaverse market leaders
The platform dates back to 2011 when all it was just a typical mobile game. In 2015, it grew to a PC game and then to Sandbox Evolution.
But the success of this large-scale metaverse began in 2018 when the platform ended up in the hands of Animoca Brands, who launched its blockchain version. Sandbox aims to attract about 2.5 billion gamers and become one of the leaders of the blockchain-based virtual sector. Today the platform counts more than 500,000 users and has reached a trading volume of over $6 billion.
Imagine a world where you can create digital assets in the form of NFTs and, using monetization opportunities, sell them, purchase, and build an independent decentralized game world. In this world, you have your land, water, air, and other monetized content as well as you are free to interact with other players and invite them into your universe.
Without limits. Only your imagination and creativity. It is what Sandbox is all about — a virtual decentralized world and game platform on the Ethereum blockchain.
What tech stack does Sandbox offer?
- VoxEdit for voxel-based NFTs generation
- Game Maker for 3D-games creation without coding
- NFT marketplace for digital assets trading
- ERC-20 SAND token for staking, internal governance, and asset handover
Sandbox: current state and prospects
Incentive programs are quite common within metaverse projects. A future-proof OneArt NFT app also provides creators with rewards. Of course, Sandbox was not left out either, and probably the attractive bonuses for both developers and artists within the project were one of the reasons for the global use of the platform.
As a result, Sandbox provides brand creators with 95% of the revenue generated by the sold items, and 50% of the SAND token revenue is used as a grant to developers, artists, and players.
Today, it is a dynamic platform adhering to the play-to-earn concept with decent funding success. For example, last November, the platform raised $93 million, and the first holding Alpha event has fueled further interest in the platform among crypto-enthusiasts.
As for the roadmap, Sandbox still intends to surprise. For example, in 2022, it is planned to release premium NFTs, make more than 1,000 games available, and sell even more LANDs, half of which have already been successfully sold.
In the future, the platform plans to introduce co-creation opportunities for virtual worlds development with friends, launch even more games, and release the Sandbox DAO project, which is in implementation.
Roblox — another cornerstone of the metaverse
Being an Ethereum-based virtual environment platform and giving opportunities for creators to build experiences within the metaverse, Roblox can be considered a great alternative to Sandbox, Decentraland, or Fortnite. And yet, what’s so special about Roblox?
Released in 2006, the gaming entertainment platform became number 1 among the younger generation. And today, it continues to keep and expand the main “joint” of its audience.
In 2020, 54% of daily active Roblox users were under 13 years old (59% and 57% in 2019 and 2018, respectively).
But at present, the platform expands its “age limits”. As a result, it has become the choice among gamers of all ages due to the ability to create virtual worlds, visit different virtual locations, organize events, and communicate with other players.
Craig Donato, Roblox’s chief business officer, said: “Our job is simply to enable creators to pursue their vision”. Besides, Donato stated that “the metaverse experience needs to be both immersive and social”, highlighting the importance of players collaborating and building game environments with virtual economy.
The key difference between Roblox and other metaverse games is the availability of a full-fledged constructor for building and selling your video games. Also, the virtual game environment has its currency (token) — Robux, which is used to access premium features, for example, skins. However, unlike the SAND (Sandbox) or MANA (Decentraland) token, which can be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges, so far, Robux does not have such a “feature”.
The platform is known for its advanced tool for game creation with a low entry threshold — Roblox Studio. At the same time, creators can benefit from the Roblox assets store, allowing users to leverage 3D items for their gaming project or use the local marketplace for trading gaming items.
Roblox: current state and roadmap
Roblox offers over 40 million games divided into genres: role-playing games, adventures, shooters, etc. In the Roblox environment, the “GenZ” audience can not only play, create their gaming worlds, earn money from in-game items trading, but also learn. That’s what is one of the main differences of this platform — the out-of-game look.
In collaboration with Tencent, Roblox is involved in digitizing education, providing access to programming courses, game design, and more within the metaverse.
The company plans to provide quality “in-metaverse” education for 100 million students by 2030.
With its 226 million active users and a growing number of DAUs, collaboration with leading companies and brands, and is a unique place both for gaming and events holding, Roblox metaverse is gaining more and more momentum, doing it gradually but surely.
Of course, one cannot mention the potential integration of NFT into the gaming platform. The growth of users leads to going beyond “under 18”.
Crypto-analysts admit the possibility of launching the Roblox token and using NFTs in this virtual reality because the trend on Web3 and the company’s desire to stay competitive are the main factors in the launch of crypto and an open NFT marketplace.
Roblox or Sandbox?
So now the big question is who wins the battle according to OneArt?
It’s not hard to guess that there will be no winner. All because despite the main similarity of the platforms, enclosed in the possibility of creating virtual game worlds, each has its own features, making them a choice for a gamer.
While Sandbox is the leader in the number of users and is progressing in developing the NFTs, Roblox is not yet considering crypto integration but has made a significant contribution to digital education.
Anyway, the transition to metaverse has started, and both platforms allow opportunities for a seamless shift to metaverse times.
