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Regal Hotels, Standard Chartered snap up virtual land on The Sandbox to take a punt on US$13 trillion metaverse market
- Regal Hotels and Standard Chartered are among 11 new partners joining The Sandbox for virtual land investments
- Banks and developers are using the metaverse to test new business ideas, and achieve ESG goals
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The Sandbox, a metaverse gaming platform known for its virtual real estate, has sold digital land plots to 11 new partners including the Regal Hotel and Standard Chartered, as more business groups tap into gamification to meet the interest of clients.
Regal Hotels has become the first Hong Kong-listed property group to invest in virtual land in the so-called Mega City, a Hong Kong-inspired cultural hub within The Sandbox. Last December, Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, the third-generation scion of conglomerate New World Development, also invested in a plot in Mega City in a personal capacity.
Property developers and banks are taking a punt on metaverse gaming platforms such as The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, with the view that avatars and in-game assets minted with non-fungible tokens (NFT) can help them test-drive new business ideas and fast-track ESG (environmental, social and governance) goals.
Regal Hotels, one of the largest hotel operators in the city, plans to establish a green “metropolis” and sell up to 100 green hotel and residential units in the form of NFTs, after its virtual project completes, expected in October.
“[There are surveys] which show that more travellers are preferring eco-friendly accommodation. So we are engaging Hong Kong residents to adopt this [trend] both online and offline to transit to a net zero world by 2050,” said Poman Lo, vice chairman of Regal Hotels at a press briefing on Monday, referring to the Hong Kong government’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality.
The company did not disclose the size of the plot or the price tag paid. Lo said that the metaverse, blockchain and tokenisation can help the company achieve its goal of “fostering a sustainable community to transition to a net-zero carbon emission world”.
The metaverse refers to an immersive, three dimensional online universe created by the convergence of physical, augmented and virtual reality.
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