The Sandbox has opened pre-registration for playtesting Next, a new mobile battle royale game based on the Unreal Engine.
The move to a mobile game is a departure for The Sandbox, an immersive gaming platform which has bet heavily on non-fungible tokens and blockchain technology.
The subsidiary of Animoca Brands is now targeting the non-blockchain mobile gaming platforms with Next. The shift to Unreal Engine is a big technical change as The Sandbox has historically run on Unity. Sebastien Borget, cofounder of The Sandbox, showed me the game running on his phone last week during GDC Festival of Gaming.
Next is a mobile battle royale game in which players carry over their identity, progression, and assets from The Sandbox game platform. Next provides players with a fast-paced, replayable player-versus-player experience that connects intense and skill-demanding gameplay with the broader player-driven ecosystem of The Sandbox, where player avatars extend beyond a single match.
Players of Next are dropped into the Desert, an open-terrain environment built around
sightlines and long-range combat, or the City, a vertical, close-quarters map that rewards
adaptability. Matches support solo play or multiplayer groups of up to 20 players per instance.
Next will serve as a new entry point into The Sandbox, where playing, collecting, and
expressing identity all converge. The mobile launch represents a major step for one of Web3’s known entertainment brands, with more than 400 brand and IP partners spanning
gaming, music, fashion and culture, including Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft, Snoop Dogg and Lacoste.
Season 7 of The Sandbox, which is currently ongoing, introduced three browser-based games as a frictionless entry point to The Sandbox ecosystem. Now, with the Next playtest, The Sandbox is taking steps to integrate additional experiences via mobile.
“Like our recent launch of WebGL games, Next is part of our plan to increase the reach of The Sandbox so players can discover, play and come back more often, whether they’re on desktop or on their phone,” said Robby Yung, CEO of The Sandbox, in a statement. “The goal is to meet people where they spend their time. A native mobile experience in addition to the desktop version makes that possible in a way browser access alone can’t.”
Registration for Next playtest is now open until March 25, 2026 at 2 p.m. (UTC), with limited spots assigned on a first-come first-served basis. The playtest begins on March 26, with additional features rolling out as Next evolves.