Nicola Sebastiani, formerly of Sony PlayStation Studios and Apple, to head The Sandbox’s global content development team and worldwide creator ecosystem
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Sandbox, the leading decentralized virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicola Sebastiani as its new Chief Content Officer. With his extensive background in the gaming industry, Nicola will play a crucial role in shaping the content and creator ecosystems within The Sandbox.
In his new role at The Sandbox, Nicola Sebastiani will work closely with The Sandbox global community of content creators, gaming studios and brand partners to publish a variety of content across styles, from single-player to social hubs, complete with community reward mechanics and new engaging game formats. He will also oversee game publishing and in-house game production for The Sandbox’s partners, which includes more than 250 agencies and studios within The Sandbox’s Partners Program and over 400 brand partners across entertainment (The Walking Dead, Lionsgate), music (Warner Music Group, Steve Aoki, Avenged Sevenfold), lifestyle (Complex, Paris Hilton, BBC Studios, Cipriani, Alo Yoga) fashion (Gucci, Lacoste), education (Ledger, British Museum) social impact (People of Crypto, Code Green) and gaming (Ubisoft, Atari).
Nicola will also drive development of Game Maker and VoxEdit, the platform’s no-code creator tools, and expand on the immense success of The Sandbox’s Game Jam events, which bring together game designers and creator communities to co-create new touchpoints for existing brands and celebrities. This format is incredibly exciting and engaging, as it puts creators in control of culture and provides brands fresh takes on crafting interactive content that resonates with new audiences.
Nicola Sebastiani joins The Sandbox from PlayStation Studios, where he held a pivotal role driving the studio’s mobile games strategy as vice president and head of Mobile, building PlayStation’s mobile user base. Prior to his time at PlayStation, Nicola made significant contributions at Apple, where he served as head of Games Business Development for the App Store before contributing to the successful launch of Apple Arcade as its head of Content.
All aspects of his role will contribute to making building games and experiences in The Sandbox a fun and rewarding experience for everyone all over the world, says Sebastiani: “Every day, millions of players interact and socialize in virtual worlds, with an increasing number of them aspiring to create and share their own virtual experiences. This shift to user-generated content is at the core of The Sandbox’s mission to empower the creator generation to build fun, engaging, and socially enriching experiences, with organic opportunities to monetize their work. I’m inspired to work towards this mission alongside our global community and empower a new generation of creators.”
Nicola’s experience positions him perfectly for The Sandbox’s next chapter, says its co-founder and COO Sébastien Borget: “Nicola has proven experience in building exciting new game formats on emerging platforms and supporting both creators and players with the tools they need to have fun and be successful. His expertise and passion will amplify the creativity of our diverse community of creators as they push beyond gaming to launch music, fashion, sport, entertainment and cultural experiences on our open metaverse platform.”
The Sandbox continues to support interoperability by bridging avatar collections from partners, who can then enable owners to play in The Sandbox with their own digital assets. As avatars remain the center of identity in virtual worlds, brands continue to release their own collections so owners can play as their favorite characters, such as Elvis, Madballs, Paris Hilton, the Rabbids, Steve Aoki, Snoop Dogg, LaMelo Ball or Gordon Ramsey.
This strategic appointment comes at a time of significant momentum for The Sandbox, which recently reached a milestone of 5 million wallets registered, and will roll out self-publishing for all landowners by the end of the year, boosting the reach of its virtual platform where users can create and monetize experiences for their communities.
The Sandbox is also pleased to announce two other executive appointments. Mathieu Nouzareth, formerly The Sandbox CEO of North America, has been promoted to chief business officer, where he will oversee global business strategy. Amit Kumar, chief growth officer, will assume the role of chief marketing officer, where he will work alongside a diverse ecosystem of partners to expand The Sandbox’s global community.
About The Sandbox
The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is one of the decentralized virtual worlds that has been fueling the recent growth of virtual real estate demand, having partnered with major brands including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, The Rabbids, Cut the Rope, Gucci Vault, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, SM Entertainment, The Smurfs, Care Bears, and Atari. Building on the existing The Sandbox IP that has more than 40 million global installs on mobile, The Sandbox metaverse offers players and creators a decentralized and intuitive platform to create immersive 3D worlds and game experiences and to safely store, trade, and monetize their creations. For more information, please visit www.sandbox.game and follow the regular updates on Twitter, Medium, and Discord.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner, a Fortune Crypto 40 company, and one of the Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023, is a Web3 leader that leverages blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers around the world to help to establish the open metaverse. The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including original games such as The Sandbox, PHANTOM GALAXIES™, Life Beyond, and Crazy Defense Heroes, and products utilizing popular intellectual properties from the worlds of sports and entertainment, such as The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. It has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Animoca Brands Japan, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, TinyTap, Be., PIXELYNX, WePlay Media, and Gryfyn. Animoca Brands is one of the most active investors in Web3, with a portfolio of over 400 Web3 investments, both directly and through Animoca Ventures, including Yuga Labs, Axie Infinity, Polygon, Consensys, Fireblocks, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, Alien Worlds, and many more. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
About Nicola Sebastiani
Born in Italy with a French heritage, Nicola Sebastiani developed a deep passion for video games early on. This passion led him to his first job at Square Enix, the Japanese gaming company. After pursuing a Master’s degree at the University of Michigan, Nicola joined Ubisoft as the first product manager for the mobile team.
Nicola then moved to Apple, playing a pivotal role in shaping Apple Arcade as the Head of Content. Most recently, Nicola was the VP and Head of Mobile at PlayStation Studios, where he drove the studio’s mobile games strategy. Currently, he serves as the Chief Content Officer of The Sandbox, supporting its creator-centric ecosystem with world-class no-code tools to shape the next generation of gaming.
Contacts
Shirley Cedeno
Shirley@the5thcolumnpr.com