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Here’s what we got for you this week:

• Sandbox making a comeback

• New token on Ronin blockchain

• Market commentary

Let’s get started!

Sandbox Making a Comeback

The Sandbox, a leading decentralized virtual world, has made a remarkable comeback amid a broader downturn in web3 games and projects throughout 2023. This resurgence is primarily fueled by a surge in NFT trading, with non-LAND NFT sales climbing by 43% in the last quarter alone. 

This growth is underscored by a 246% year-on-year increase in non-LAND mints, propelled by successful collaborations with notable entities such as Ubisoft, and themed collections like The Notorious B.I.G. Big Poppa NFTs. 

Despite a slight decline in some areas, such as an 8% decrease in SAND staking and a 42% drop in total revenue due to lower primary sales volume, The Sandbox's SAND market cap witnessed an 89% upswing, reaching $1.2 billion by year-end. 

This financial rebound is complemented by an 86% increase in the price of SAND. 2023 was also a milestone year for The Sandbox in reinforcing its commitment to user-generated content (UGC), marked by the launch of Game Maker 0.9 and opening LAND publishing to the community. 

Hosting nearly 700 live player-created games and maintaining partnerships with over 400 top brands, The Sandbox is strategically advancing towards mass adoption with plans for a mobile expansion, cross-chain interoperability, and AI-enhanced content creation, aiming to become a powerhouse in the virtual world by 2025.

New Token on Ronin Blockchain

Apeiron, the pioneering NFT-centric god game, is set to enhance its ecosystem with the introduction of the $APRS token, launching on the Ronin blockchain from March 12th to 15th. This initiative represents one of the initial token offerings on Ronin, underscoring Apeiron's commitment to community-driven growth and governance participation. 

The launch encompasses two distinct phases aimed at engaging both Apeiron enthusiasts and the broader Ronin community, ensuring widespread access. With a finite supply of 1 billion tokens, priced at $0.11 each, $APRS aspires to a fully diluted valuation of $110 million. Its distribution model incorporates an initial 20% unlock, followed by an 18-month vesting period, designed to promote ecosystem longevity and stability. 

The game's transition to Ronin has already catalyzed a remarkable growth trajectory, highlighted by burgeoning user engagement and an expanding digital footprint. By launching the $APRS token, Apeiron is not just introducing a financial instrument; it's forging a deeper connection with its community, setting the stage for a collaborative journey into the realms of divine strategy and digital collectibles. 

The network effects of a strong gaming chain cannot be understated. We saw how Pixel grew multifold after migrating to Ronin. As more gaming IPs join, the network effects only get stronger and help onboard more players. 

Market Commentary

The last few weeks were dominated by AI coins like RNDR, PHB, and FET. The speculation was mainly driven by the NVIDIA conference. Guess what conference is next? Game Developer Conference (GDC). 

All the major game titles in the industry will attend the conference to share latest updates of the game and any major partnerships they have landed. This is causing market participants to bet on the gaming sector. The money flow from AI to Web3 gaming is clearly visible, as gaming coins like GMT, ILV, AXS, GALA, MAGIC, PIXEL, and RON rapidly grind higher on low time frames. 

On high time frames, many old projects are breaking out of a long consolidation period. When these break out with proper volume, we may see explosive moves to the upside. The recently launched tokens on launchpads are also doing extremely well. In the first few weeks, they will consolidate and go sideways. After that, the tokens get marked higher very quickly. This is the common pattern we are observing. 

As we are in a bull market, we can expect extreme moves on the slightest news regarding a game. If you’re a news trader, following GDC for the next week can be helpful in catching moves early. 

On the broader crypto market, we see Bitcoin putting new all-time highs and Ethereum hitting $4,000. The altcoin market still is yet to mark up. We saw a few select coins perform well, but soon we may see an alt/btc reversion across the market. While the conditions are bullish, it’s important to remember nothing goes up only forever. There will be a correction at some point. So position accordingly and take profit on the way up.

• Knights of Ether announced 20,000 $ARB tokens as reward for holders of their upcoming  free mint.

• Shrapnel began the STX1.2 event with over 338,000 $SHRAP tokens in the prize pool. 

• MetaDOS announced skin and founder pass NFT holders will receive token airdrops. 

• Gangster Arena to reward testnet players with an airdrop pool of 1 million $FIAT tokens. 

• Pixelmon’s casual game PixelPals is now live with a prize pool of $142,000+.

• Parallel TCG open beta now available on their website to download. 

• Raini Studios announced a new game IP in the wrestling category called Lucha Throwdown. 

• Wilder World secured a partnership with NVIDIA to revolutionise cloud gaming. 

• Castle of Blackwater completed their Sheriff NFT sale and went live with their play-to-airdrop event.

• Illuvium introduced new features to Overworld and shared the latest footage.

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