UAE government pursues to secure a place in the metaverse space with its ambitious upcoming project Dubaiverse developed on the Sandbox platform.
What’s Dubaiverse?
- Dubaiverse is the upcoming Dubai-themed metaverse project developed on the Sandbox platform, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands and a virtual community-driven gaming world with in-game ownership and monetization mechanisms.
- Dubaiverse is so far the latest Mega city edition in The Sandbox; it will represent not only an extended mirror of a real location but simultaneously a cutting-edge economical and creative hub providing an immersive experience for the metaspace visitors.
- The decision on the launch of Dubaiverse was made during the 62nd True Global Ventures Conference on Thursday, September 15, where the venture firm hosting the conference reportedly invested $38 million in developing Animoca Brands’ projects.
- Strictly speaking, Dubaiverse is not a one-of-its-kind virtual analog of a megapolis. Animoca Brand’s Dubai metaverse thematically resembles The Sandbox’s innovative Hong Kong ‘’Mega City’’, a gaming metaverse project and virtual cultural space founded on Hong Kong’s real financial hub.
Who’s behind Dubaiverse?
- The Sandbox concluded a partnership agreement with the UAE media group as well as other local partners from across the film, music, entertainment, real estate, finance, and gaming industries and announced the plan to launch Dubaiverse on September 15.
- The Sandbox Senior Vice-President for global partnerships Bertrand Levy confirmed that the company was currently ‘’busy developing Dubaiverse and in close interaction with other stakeholders’’. “We are a global brand with around 350 offices and have seen that luxury brands were among first to make their presence in the metaverse. The key to success in Web3.0 is all about what experiences are you trying to create. The Web3.0 will open opportunities for creators and creativity,” shared Levy.
- Current local partnerships include, among others, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), brokerage firm GCEX, and the English daily newspaper Khaleej Times.
How is Dubai advancing to the metaverse?
- A few months earlier, on May 4, VARA, the first-ever specialized regulator for the Virtual Assets sector, announced its acquisition of LAND in The Sandbox. VARA thus became the first asset regulator to establish an official presence in the metaverse and made a huge step towards establishing an upcoming MetaHQ hub in The Sandbox.
- MetaHQ hub is aimed at providing integrative space for individual and collective projects for industry leaders and creatives as well as international regulatory authorities and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The partnership is meant to advance the development of professional communities in The Sandbox’s ecosystem and at the same time demonstrate the UAE government’s commitment to the new economy and trust for Web3 technologies.
- Following the creation of the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the issuance of the Virtual Asset Law, the Dubai Metaverse Strategy was developed. It sees its mission in turning Dubai into one of the world’s top 10 metaverse economies and a universal hub for the metaverse community while endorsing the state to support over 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030.
- The Sandbox COO and Co-Founder Sebastien Borget commented on the recent partnership: ‘’Dubai’s VARA MetaHQ is a strong vote of confidence in the global virtual asset industry, and signals that the UAE is ready to play an important role in supporting its safe growth. We are proud to be the first open metaverse platform of choice for Dubai’’. Besides, Borget predicted that the next in line of city-themed metaspaces will most likely be Singapore, Turkey, and Korea.
- In the meanwhile, according to analysts, the metaverse is expected to provide around $5 trillion to the global economy in 8 years.