The Smurfs are coming to The Sandbox. Animoca Brands, creator of The Sandbox blockchain gaming platform, has announced that it has partnered with The Smurfs licensor IMPS to bring The Smurfs to The Sandbox.
As part of the deal, a virtual Smurfs village will be created within The Sandbox. Players will be able to visit this village, play The Smurfs games within it, and purchase The Smurfs blockchain collectibles they can use to build their own Smurf games.
The Sandbox and $SAND
The Sandbox is a 3D virtual world that allows independent developers to create their own games within it. These games can be monetized by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or blockchain collectibles for $SAND.
$SAND is a cryptocurrency usable across the platform and freely traded on Binance and other exchanges.
The idea behind The Sandbox is to allow creativity to flourish within the platform by eliminating central authorities.
The Sandbox has already formed partnerships with numerous IPs, including Care Bears, Shaun the Sheep, Atari, and others.
The Sandbox is slated for an open beta in December, 2020. During this beta, players will be able to earn NFTs through gameplay and trade them with other players or developers. By allowing players to sell their collectibles, The Sandbox seeks to be a Play to Earn game instead of Pay to Win.
The Smurfs
The Smurfs is a famous brand of cute, tiny, blue creatures. It began in 1958 as a group of characters in Johan and Peewit, a comic book series from artist Peyo. These characters became so popular with fans that Peyo gave them their own series soon after they debuted.
In 1981, The Smurfs comic was adapted into an animated series by Hanna-Barbera. The series was shown on NBC and released worldwide, lasting for 9 seasons.
In 2011, the first The Smurfs movie was released. Two sequels followed, and the three movies grossed over $1 billion in revenue. A new TV series that uses computer-generated imagery is in the works.
LAND and Smurf Village
Under the new agreement, IMPS will receive parcels of LAND, non-fungible tokens that represent pieces of space within The Sandbox virtual world. On this LAND, the iconic Smurf Village from the comics and cartoons will be recreated in a 3D voxel version.
Players of The Sandbox will be able to visit Smurf Village by moving their avatars onto the LAND it inhabits. Once there, they will be able to socialize with other The Smurfs fans and play Smurf-themed games that allow them to become Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Smurfette, Azrael, and other The Smurfs characters.
The Smurfs collectibles
The Sandbox and IMPS will also create collectibles based on the brand, and players will be able to develop their own The Smurfs games using these collectibles.
The first ever The Smurfs collectibles for The Sandbox will be offered for sale on November 12, as part of the final round of LAND sales. More information can be found on the official The Sandbox Medium post for the event.
