Care Bears Go Crypto in The Sandbox Blockchain Game

Attention ‘80s kids: the Care Bears are back… and in blockchainblockchain form. Today, Animoca Brands announced a partnership with Cloudco Entertainment to bring the cartoon bears back to life in The Sandbox, an Ethereum-driven virtual metaverse game.

Players will be able to explore official Care-a-Lot environments inspired by the franchise, as well as purchase Care Bears assets for use in their own creations.

“We’re pleased to welcome the Care Bears license into The Sandbox virtual world, inviting family-friendly entertainment brands that our players have grown up with to participate in the next digital revolution where virtual worlds are 100% made, governed, and owned by players,” said The Sandbox COO and co-founder Sebastien Borget, in a release.

“We are creating an appealing gaming metaverse that aims at attracting mainstream gamers and creators through their favorite brands, to build great experiences.”

Thanks to the partnership, Cloudco Entertainment will receive large LAND spaces in the digital world, which they will use to build the Care-a-Lot environments using The Sandbox’s Minecraft-esque blocky voxel graphics. Players will be able to explore the theme park-inspired environment, play games, and interact with other players in real time.

Meanwhile, the official Care Bears assets will be tokenized on the EthereumEthereum blockchain network and released as non-fungible tokens to prove ownership. According to a release, the Care Bears brand is in the midst of a modern revival spanning a new YouTube series and toy lines, so its inclusion in The Sandbox may appeal to more than just nostalgic old-school fans.

Gaming giant Square Enix invests in Ethereum-based Sandbox

In what could be seen as further validation for the burgeoning blockchain gaming industry, The Sandbox publisher Animoca Brands announced this week that Square Enix, the Japanese game publisher behind Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, and Space Invaders, participated in a $2.01 million investment round in 2019. Square Enix’s share of the round was not disclosed. The round also included investments from Japan’s B Cryptos Inc. investment fund, True Global Ventures 4 Plus Fund GP, and Mindfulness Venture...

The Sandbox has already netted more than 50 partnerships with other brands and companies, including Atari, CryptoKitties, and Shaun the Sheep. The game also secured investment from major game publisher Square Enix—makers of Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider—earlier this year.

The Sandbox is still set to launch publicly later this year, according to the firm. The Sandbox has already sold more than $1.5 million worth of LAND plots via previous pre-sale campaigns, with LAND Presale 4 Round 2 set to begin on September 15. Over the course of four days, a total of 4,536 new plots of LAND will be sold exclusively via the game’s $SAND currency.