Together with The Sandbox and metaverse studio Index Game, AIA Carnival will publish a single-player interactive game in the metaverse of The Sandbox, expanding the fun and games of the real-life AIA Carnival. This experience will be a celebration of the Hong Kong festive spirit, showcasing all the excitement of Hong Kong’s iconic elements and featuring a unique storyline built around Chinese New Year and the upcoming Year of the Dragon. Players will have the opportunity to win in-game wearables and passes in the form of NFTs, as well as tickets to the real-life AIA Carnival. 

 

"We are delighted to partner with The Sandbox to bring the spirit of the AIA Carnival to the metaverse. And at the same time, we will bring The Sandbox to real-life in surprising new ways at the Carnival," said Randy Bloom, CEO of Great China Entertainment Group, the organiser of the AIA Carnival. "Our event welcomes over 1 million visitors each year who can now combine the familiarity of the real-life carnival with the limitless possibilities of the virtual world. We always look to put smiles across all our visitors' faces and we are looking forward to doing this in the digital realm too.”

 

Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating: "The partnership between The Sandbox and the AIA Carnival is a testament to the power of the metaverse to create experiences that seamlessly blend the real and the virtual. As the AIA Carnival returns for the first time in four years, visitors can now enjoy the AIA Carnival in-person on the Central Harbourfront - and also on The Sandbox platform.”

 

In addition to providing the immersive experience in its virtual world, The Sandbox will also showcase digital experiences at the real-life AIA Carnival. Visitors will be able to engage in dance battles using avatars and enjoy interactive elements that bridge the gap between the physical and digital realms. In addition, there will be educational 3D voxel modeling workshops for all ages, metaverse build competitions with winning entries showcased on The Sandbox map, and a live voxel creative contest adding an extra layer of excitement to the traditional AIA Carnival experience.

 

Potentially a first for Hong Kong at an event of this scale, attendees at this year’s AIA Carnival will have the opportunity to make rapid and cost-effective cryptocurrency payments, thanks to a collaboration with crypto payments solution hi.com. Visitors will be able to purchase popcorn or drinks with The Sandbox's SAND tokens, allowing the utility token to have physical world applications.

 

“The partnership between AIA Carnival and The Sandbox sets a new standard for integrating the metaverse with real-life events, offering visitors a seamless and immersive journey between the offline and online worlds,” added Borget.

 

Both the user experience with crypto tokens for everyday payments and the process of vendor onboarding have been greatly simplified for the AIA Carnival. Visitors engaging in several quests at The Sandbox booth can swiftly open an account on The Sandbox and receive a CashHash card. This card allows them to redeem SAND for using at the event or for storing in their hi.com wallet. Vendors enjoy a streamlined five-minute procedure to register as merchants with hi.com and accept SAND from consumers by scanning the QR code on their CashHash cards.

 

About AIA Carnival

The AIA Carnival,  one of the largest outdoor events in Hong Kong, attracting over one million visitors each year, returns this Winter from the 21st December 2023 to 25th February 2024. With a commitment to providing unforgettable experiences, the AIA Carnival offers a wide range of thrilling rides, games, and entertainment for all ages. The much-loved event has become an iconic part of Hong Kong's vibrant event scene, bringing joy and excitement to visitors both locally and from around the world.

 

About Great China Entertainment Group Limited

The AIA Carnival is organised by the Great China Entertainment Group Limited, a Great Entertainment Group company.

 

Great Entertainment Group Limited is a multi-award winning event organiser and producer that  connects brands and communities through entertainment. Our expertise is in delivering large-scale, memorable events that generate high-value marketing opportunities for our partners. Over the last eight years we have entertained and engaged over 15 million consumers through our diverse portfolio of more than 500 events. By sharing the wonder of entertainment through quality production, our mission is to: Engage. Entertain. Inspire.

 

About The Sandbox

The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is a leading decentralized gaming virtual world, , having partnered with major brands including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, The Rabbids, Cut the Rope, Gucci Vault, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, SM Entertainment, The Smurfs, Care Bears, and Atari. Building on the existing The Sandbox IP that has more than 40 million global installs on mobile, The Sandbox metaverse offers players and creators a decentralized and intuitive platform to create immersive 3D worlds and game experiences and to safely store, trade, and monetize their creations. For more information, please visit www.sandbox.game and follow the regular updates on Twitter, Medium, and Discord.

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About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner, a Fortune Crypto 40 company, and one of the Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023, is a Web3 leader that leverages blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers around the world to help establish the open metaverse. The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including original games such as The Sandbox, PHANTOM GALAXIES™, Life Beyond, and Crazy Defense Heroes, and products utilizing popular intellectual properties from the worlds of sports and entertainment, such as The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. It has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Animoca Brands Japan, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, TinyTap, Be., PIXELYNX, WePlay Media, Gryfyn, and Azarus. Animoca Brands is one of the most active investors in Web3, with a  portfolio of over 400 Web3 investments, both directly and through Animoca Ventures, including Yuga Labs, Axie Infinity, Polygon, Consensys, Fireblocks, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Alien Worlds, and many more. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on X (Twitter) or Facebook.

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Media Contact

Mark Leeper, +852 9142 1510, mark@matrixcom.org

Irene Chua, +852 9015 9445, irene@matrixcom.org