Following a round of seed investments by The Sandbox, Com2uS, CRIT Ventures, and Formless Capital, Firefly Games CEO Michael Zhang has announced the formation of a new venture called MetaWorld Entertainment. Key partners in this new metaverse company include The Sandbox, the decentralised virtual gaming world and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, and Com2uS, a global multi-content platform leading the way in the blockchain gaming space.
This announcement of MetaWorld Entertainment’s formation comes at a pivotal time in the evolution of the Web3 space. Michael Zhang has described MetaWorld’s vision of Web3 as “the venue for entertainment in the new digital age. The metaverse is where audiences will play, engage, and interact with new levels of immersion, unlike anything we have seen before. We have the advantage of leveraging great technology and our know-how of creating engaging and meaningful experiences for people. This allows us to think more from the user’s perspective: what meaningful experiences can we bring to them and what value will this give them,” said MetaWorld would-be CEO Zhang.
MetaWorld Entertainment will be an all-encompassing entertainment company, bringing concerts, events, and games to the global market through metaverse platforms, including The Sandbox. MetaWorld will serve as both a developer and publisher of multiple experiences and games, empowering audiences around the world to interact with the metaverse like never before. MetaWorld will maximise the immersive experience using the support of key partners such as Agora and their real-time audio technology. MetaWorld will also utilise the Web2 game publishing experience of its partners to target a massive gaming audience while using the “play-and-earn” model that offers high-quality and engaging games through which players can also earn virtual currencies. By combining and utilising its unique gaming resources, platform advantages, and business cooperation in technology and entertainment, MetaWorld plans to bring brand-new play-and-earn entertainment experiences to the Web3 era to drive broader adoption.
“The Sandbox is pleased to support the entry of veteran gaming entrepreneur Michael Zhang into the metaverse by establishing his next gaming venture as a metaverse builder studio. We believe he will leverage his experience and team creativity to build fun, engaging, multiplayer games and diversified experiences on The Sandbox platform, starting with Atari games available in Alpha Season 3 and with more brand names soon to be announced,” said The Sandbox COO and co-founder Sébastien BORGET.
Com2uS president Kyu Lee was similarly optimistic, he said “The next wave of Web3 builders will be more focused on the content and experience that are built on the platforms. Michael and his team have both the strong vision and the track record of working with top tier brands to scale and deliver.” Com2uS has a long history of bullish growth in bleeding edge markets around the world.
“Brands are looking for impactful ways to participate in the Web3 ecosystem. Michael has a proven track record of creating successful content and MetaWorld will become a resource for brands and consumers to meaningfully engage in the metaverse,” said MetaWorld advisor and NBA Asia former MD Scott Levy.