Co-founder of The Sandbox: 'Good Web3 Games Should Be Designed Like the Game of Life'

During an event, Sébastien—who has been an entrepreneur for nearly 20 years, including 13 in the gaming industry—met a young couple with two young children. The whole family, including the kids, creates games in The Sandbox.

Seeing them reminded Sébastien of his own childhood dream: to create games and empower others to do the same without technological barriers. Today, The Sandbox has made that dream a reality.

The Spotlight is a series of exclusive interviews between AmberBlocks and industry leaders, diving into the hottest topics in the market.

Read more: EVG Founder: 'To Succeed as a Web3 Entrepreneur, You Have to Be a Little Shameless'

-  Hi Sébastien,The Sandbox has been a huge success! Can you tell us how the project got started?

Sébastien Borget: For 17 years, my business partner and The Sandbox co-founder, Arthur Madrid and I have worked together on two peer-to-peer technology companies, creating some of the first platforms that allowed people to upload music and photos to the cloud and share them with friends.

Our third venture was pioneering in a different way: we were among the first to create free-to-play mobile games, collaborating closely with major brands. This laid the groundwork for The Sandbox. Originally, it was a 2D game where people could make pixel art just by drawing on the screen with their fingers.

The idea resonated widely, leading to 40 million downloads and 70 million pieces of player-created content. But we faced a challenge—there was no way to share revenue with the creators who fueled the game's success, so they gradually left. It was a frustrating outcome for us.

As early adopters of emerging tech, we turned to blockchain in 2017. We explored and analyzed CryptoKitties, and it sparked the solution we were looking for: blockchain empowered players to buy creations directly from other players rather than from the developers. Creators could now generate revenue independently of us.

This led to the new version of The Sandbox, integrating blockchain and NFTs, making it a platform where players could truly own, create, and earn.

- What are your thoughts on the current gaming landscape, especially within Web3?

Sébastien Borget: 2024 has been a challenging year for the gaming industry: large-scale layoffs, company closures, high inflation in a post-COVID-19 world, and turbulent global events—political shifts in the U.S., the Ukraine-Russia war, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Additionally, governments are introducing more privacy regulations, which, though necessary, impact the free-to-play model. Game companies once relied on targeted advertising based on user data, but they can no longer use data this way. At the same time, player spending has dropped significantly due to economic pressures.

These changes push gaming companies to innovate to survive. They’re looking at Web3 as a way to reshape the business model, benefiting not just developers and distributors but also players and creators.

How do you think games today differ from the ones you played when you were around 12 or 13?

Sébastien Borget: Back then, game graphics were basic, but we had moving pixels and fun, lively sounds. Later, we went through a period where most successful commercial games were just copies of copies of previous games.

Today, though, we’re in a new era of creativity and experimentation. We’re seeing more unique content and fresh forms of entertainment. The Sandbox aims to contribute to this movement, inspiring creators to succeed and share the vision of a gaming world that unites people, creating new jobs and industries along the way.

- Do you think that with revenue-sharing incentives, Web3 games today are more financially focused than gameplay-oriented?

Sébastien Borget: Many people approach Web3 from a financial standpoint, so yes, some games lean heavily in that direction.

However, a successful Web3 game needs to balance both: it should engage players through fun, immersive gameplay while integrating Web3 elements like wallets, transactions, and rewards. It's about creating an experience that’s not purely transactional.

The gaming industry is vast, with diverse gameplay styles and audiences. Web3 games are also evolving, shedding the reputation of being low-quality or finance-centric.

Web3 games are evolving, shedding the reputation of being low-quality or finance-centric.

Today, experienced developers and studios are producing exciting Web3 games with a player-first approach, like MapleStory, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and Atari. They’re creating spaces where players are empowered and can enjoy meaningful experiences.

 - What types of games do you think will help Web3 become part of everyday life?

Sébastien Borget: Games on the TON blockchain are a great example—they make the Web3 experience seamless. Players might not even realize they’re in Web3, but they’re making their first transactions in this space.

Games that give communities more influence, like The Sandbox’s DAO, launched last May, also bring players closer by involving them in governance and the platform’s future direction.

Across trends like play-to-earn, stake-to-earn, and tap-to-earn, the common thread is rewarding players for their time. The reward could be financial, or it could have intrinsic value, like giving players decision-making power.

Ultimately, players will decide whether to cash out and move on or reinvest their rewards into the platform. A great game keeps players engaged because it brings them joy, allowing a balance between earning and spending within the game.

It’s the same with the game of life: you work to earn money, then spend it on essentials like food and housing; but sometimes, you also splurge on things like spas, travel, or choose to save. A good game should offer that same balance.

- AI is a big trend right now. How does The Sandbox plan to leverage this technology?

Sébastien Borget: User-generated content (UGC) is definitely the future of gaming, and we want everyone to have the ability to create unique avatars and influence the game’s direction through voting. AI plays an essential role in making this vision a reality.

It can accelerate the creation of game worlds and characters, enabling richer, more immersive experiences. For instance, AI can learn gameplay patterns to create intelligent NPCs that interact meaningfully with real players.

We’re also seeing experiments with AI where players can either battle or collaborate with AI entities rather than other players. Some AIs are even designed to make independent decisions, optimizing gameplay in ways that go beyond human strategies.

AI is also invaluable for large-scale content moderation, which is crucial for user safety. With its help, social media, UGC, and metaverse platforms can become safer and more inviting spaces.

At The Sandbox, we’ve been using AI for content moderation for two years to enhance safety in our metaverse.

Additionally, AI helps us capture human movements from video, bringing emotional and natural expression to avatars. We're also exploring AI-driven content creation, and it's exciting to see how this hybrid approach will shape our platform’s future.

- The Sandbox is heavily focused on Asia. What’s your view on the gaming landscape in Asia, especially in Vietnam?

Sébastien Borget: Asia is leading the Web3 adoption wave, and this includes The Sandbox, where about 45% of our users are based in the region.

In Vietnam, there’s a large and enthusiastic Web3 user base, a strong community of gamers, and a growing pool of talented, quick-learning game creators. However, brand development, global marketing expertise, and user acquisition are areas that could be strengthened.

This is where we believe we can help. The gaming industry often involves adapting and refining ideas, and with The Sandbox, Vietnamese creators can showcase their unique, culturally rich games to a global audience while retaining a distinct Vietnamese “flavor.”