2022 is a year of big changes for The Sandbox. While you can check out our Roadmap for some general information, here we will be talking specifically about The Creator Fund and User Generated Content (UGC).

First, we want to thank everyone in the Creator Fund who has helped & establish a blueprint for the quality and creativity of content in The Sandbox. For the past three years, the Creator Fund has been gathering voxel art talent from all around the world. Over 200 artists from diverse backgrounds have shared their influences to become part of this vibrant Metaverse.

Now, as we approach the opening of the open UGC Metaverse, the role of the Creator Fund is going to shrink as thousands of artists join our open UGC platform. This important milestone comes with a bittersweet announcement:

The Creator Fund will not be open for new applications until further notice.

That may come as a big disappointment to many, but after a lot of consideration from staff, we think the outcome of this will be best for everyone.

As the Creator Fund rapidly grew from about 50 artists to over 200 during 2021, it has become increasingly complicated to keep things organized. The Creator Fund is not simply a group of artists with early access. They are given monthly assignments with team goals and every asset is checked for art direction and quality control by the Creator Fund’s staff.

The goal of the Creator Fund is to provide high quality assets for collectors and game developers entering The Sandbox ecosystem, and there are no plans to end this mission. It’s just that this mission will be filled by the thousands of artists who will now be able to earn revenue by selling directly to other users and creators. We have no doubt that the artists of the Creator Fund will lead the way by providing some of the most creative, useful, and beautiful voxel art possible!

Open UGC Metaverse is in the plans for 2022

Right now, we’re focusing on upgrading our dashboard tools and streamlining the uploading, publishing, minting, and selling workflow, so that it’s intuitive for new users. The goal of The Sandbox has always been to be an accessible and open UGC ecosystem that is controlled by the community. We hope you will continue to practice your VoxEdit skills in preparation for the platform’s fully open launch.

Some goals to look forward to in 2022:

• Open access for more users to publish.
• Report and moderation tools, instead of every asset needing pre-approval.
• Affordable transactions on Layer 2.
• More tutorials and learning resources.

Some more goals:

• Verified users and items.
• Decentralized Moderation (DeMod).
• Team workgroups.

So Now What?

There are still lots of ways to participate in The Sandbox while we wait for the full UGC launch.

• Every month there is a new VoxEdit Contest. The top three winners get SAND prizes as well as the opportunity to mint their piece for a future sale event on the marketplace.
• If you are interested in game design, compete in a Game Jam. You get access to publish your assets created for the game. Prizes can include huge SAND bounties, LAND, and other cool rewards.
• The Game Maker Fund is for individuals and teams who have a game idea to pitch. If your pitch sounds like a good fit, you will be granted LAND space and a budget to fund your gamdev process. Your game will get featured alongside The Sandbox and our partners’ experiences.
• The Sandbox Bootcamp by Participate is an excellent course on all the essentials of working in VoxEdit and The GameMaker. Complete the course to get Sandbox Certified and ready to start creating for yourself and others.
• The Metaverse Accelerator is a new program designed to bring your new business idea into the Metaverse. If you have a business model designed to work with web3, we’re giving grants to get you started, as well as mentorships from industry leaders and innovators.
• Join the conversation on Discord and Telegram! We have a thriving community of creative talent looking to team up for success. Find people looking to hire or fellow artists eager to collaborate.