‘The Sandbox’ Adds Web-Based Games in Season 7 Accessibility Push

Crypto gaming ecosystem and metaverse platform The Sandbox is lowering the barriers to entry in its Season 7 rollout, enabling users to join select games directly from their browser without requiring downloads, installations, or an account.

The new season launch will also feature at least 20 creator-built experiences alongside a mix of those from established IP from partners, including Atari, “Black Mirror,” musician Steve Aoki, “The Terminator,” and the Bruce Lee estate.

“Accessibility is definitely at the core of the launch of the season,” The Sandbox and Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung told Decrypt.

“One of the challenges that we’ve had since the very earliest days is that we wanted to make this a user-generated content (UGC) platform for everybody,” he added. “But I think we have been held back in the past, honestly, by the kind of technical infrastructure that we put in place that we built it with.”

The team behind The Sandbox, which was acquired by Animoca Brands in 2018, has learned a lot in the last seven years. According to Yung, who took over the CEO role last August, the game is “kind of an old product” by blockchain standards. Since launch, the team recognized that “simple things”—like requiring big file downloads—can dissuade players from jumping in and playing.

“It’s much easier if people can jump into a browser right away and engage in the experience quickly,” Yung said. “One of the things we’re really pleased about is the browser-level ability to just jump right into The Sandbox. I think it is going to make a big difference, especially for people who are new to the experience.”

And while the developers will be watching lots of different metrics to evaluate the season, Yung said that retention—or the ability to bring people back to the game—will be of key importance.

“It’s really about creating engagement that leads to retention as the north star metric,” he said.

With retention, Yung said that hopefully revenues should follow and create the potential for impact on token price as well—though he reiterated that all else is secondary to the game’s retention rate.

The price of $SAND is down approximately 78% over the last year, per CoinGecko, amid a tough stretch in crypto gaming marked by investment broadly drying up across the industry. Many blockchain-based games shut down in 2025 and into early 2026 due to factors including a lack of funding and low player retention rates.

Players in The Sandbox ecosystem that keep coming back will have the opportunity to earn rewards in Season 7 as well, which is highlighted by a prize pool of more than 650,000 $SAND or around $52,000 worth based on the ecosystem token’s current price.

A screenshot from The Sandbox Season 7. Image: The Sandbox

“We’re really excited,” said Yung of the Season 7 launch. “I think this is going to be the best season yet as far as content goes. And I think most importantly, it’s all about the creators at the end of the day. Having more than 50% of the content coming from creators now, I think, is an overdue milestone for us.”

The ecosystem’s growing embrace of user-generated content mirrors that of other successful gaming platforms like Minecraft and Roblox. While The Sandbox has leaned on prominent brands and IP to drive interest across all of its seasons, the goal is ultimately for developers of all sorts to come in and create an ever-evolving array of experiences.

“We want to be a place where it’s not just us making content that people enjoy and have fun with. It’s also a place where any third-party, any player or professional developer, can come and create cool stuff and engage audiences—and do so in a way that benefits them,” he said.

“It’s exactly what big platforms like Roblox are doing every day. But we want to do so in a way that’s true to our Web3 values,” Yung added. “That basically means that there are low take rates, low transaction costs, and low infrastructure costs—so the benefit goes back to the creators and the IP holders.”