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Fans of the casino online industry will be happy to know that Asia Pioneer Entertainment (APE) has recently launched a metaverse project called Mini Macau. It is an online resort built on The Sandbox Game platform. The goal of the company is to encourage digital tourists who cannot travel because of COVID restrictions.
The virtual land of Mini Macau is home to tourist attractions that also exist in the real world. Below are some of the attractions:
- Macau Tower
- Ruins of St. Paul’s
- The Senado Square
- The Ah Ma temple
Mini Macau is a virtual casino that is only accessible on The Sandbox Game platform. The Sandbox is a metaverse platform, which means users have to create an account and then walk around in the metaverse. It is similar to RPG games like GTA, but only this time you can interact with almost anything, including real people.
The CFO of APE, Mr. Tony Chan Chi Lun, said that the launch was the company’s first attempt to join the metaverse revolution. In addition to the tourist attractions, they have three real brands that are in the Mini Macau area. These brands are:
- Choi Heong Yuen Bakery
- Seng Fung Jewellery
- O Junco de 9 Jades
O Junco de 9 Jades is a restaurant. These virtual shops are present in Mini Macau not to sell but only to display the company’s willingness to work and cooperate with other businesses.
Although these establishments do not sell things, players can interact and engage with these brands. For example, there are two games like The Fortune Cookie Hunt and the Avoid the Tourists games.
Players also have the choice to compete and win real prizes. They can redeem these prizes in Macau, which is ironic because they cannot go there. Moreover, Mr. Lun said that the company was looking forward to advertising Macanese brands in their Mini Macau casino. They also plan to have some online and offline booking activities.
Mini Macau is a prototype. The company has goals of expansion in the metaverse. According to the CFO, they have a plan for the future development of their own metaverse environment. Their goal is to create a metaverse that is solely for travel and hospitality.
Once this materializes, they will call it Resortverse. In it, players or visitors can see real-life resorts. They can interact with these resorts. The resort owners can give out prizes, which the visitors can redeem in real life. In addition, the Resortverse will enable resort owners to engage digital travellers. There will be online and offline rewards. For example, a resort can offer coupons, which can eventually provide big benefits for their businesses.
Mr. Lun said that they planned to release Resortverse by the end of 2022. It is unclear if the Resortverse is only for Macau-based businesses or if it is global.
How Does The Sandbox Work?
The Sandbox is similar to Decentraland. At this time, these are the two biggest metaverses in the world. Think of it as an online MMORPG but with no fighting.
In the metaverse, you create an account and a character. You dress up that character, and then you walk around. If there is a building, you can interact with it. For example, let us say that there is a casino building. You can go inside that building, and then you will find some games like slot machines. Your character can interact with these games. Essentially, it is a computer game, but with a touch of reality.
In the metaverse, you must use real money to participate in activities. Currently, a metaverse uses its unique coin. This coin is a cryptocurrency, which you must buy for real cash. Like all cryptocurrencies, the digital coin that you have in the metaverse is volatile.
In the future, you can pretty much do everything in the metaverse that you can do in real life. Right now, you can gamble, meet people, make money, advertise, mint non-fungible tokens, etc.
What is the Future of the Industry?
The metaverse is the beginning of a new age. It is the birth of a new way of online engagement. Today, people use their PCs, mobile devices or laptops to access the metaverse. In the future, the VR headset is going to be the primary mode of accessing the metaverse. There may be tall buildings in the metaverse that are exactly the same as what they are in real life. People can access the buildings, ride the elevator and play in casino lobbies. By the time that comes, APE may be at the forefront of the technology. Not only are they serious with their launch of Mini Macau in The Sandbox, but they are also serious about building their own metaverse.
