The Sandbox Co-founder Sébastien Borget Explains How the Metaverse Will Revive in 2025

During NFT Paris, BeInCrypto had the opportunity to interview Sébastien Borget, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox. As the metaverse market is projected to reach a value of $103.6 billion

During NFT Paris, BeInCrypto had the opportunity to interview Sébastien Borget, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox.

The metaverse market is projected to reach a value of $103.6 billion by 2025. Platforms like The Sandbox, a decentralized, community-driven virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain, are at the forefront of this digital revolution.

Beyond his pivotal role in shaping the metaverse, Borget has also co-founded Artverse, a digital art gallery and cultural hub nestled in Paris’s vibrant 3rd arrondissement. Established in 2024 alongside Arthur Madrid, Artverse bridges the gap between digital and physical art, offering a space where artists, collectors, and enthusiasts converge to explore and celebrate digital creativity.

In this conversation, Borget delves into the future of the metaverse, the evolution of digital art, and the innovative endeavors of The Sandbox and Artverse.

By 2024, the metaverse seems to have fallen short of expectations. What do you believe were the primary reasons?

“While early expectations may have been overly ambitious, projecting the sci-fi vision of a virtual reality-based metaverse, the ecosystem is still very young and ripe with opportunity for those willing to experiment with its current and future capabilities.

As with any emerging industry, success comes to those who prioritize building their core community while developing their product and ecosystem together. With that in mind, we’ve remained focused on our core products—Game Maker, Game Client, and VoxEdit—creating a more robust ecosystem that fosters creativity, connection, and fun.

At the same time, we’ve developed programs that support our creators and players through unique reward incentives, strong brand partnerships, and community-driven initiatives that unite our global user base in meaningful ways. These community-centric efforts, grounded in a strong, easy-to-use product, have allowed us to surpass over 2,000 new experiences published on The Sandbox Map, over 6.3 million wallets connected, and engagement with over 580,000 unique players during Alpha Season 4 last fall.

One of the biggest challenges has been fragmentation across blockchain platforms, making interoperability and cross-project collaboration a work in progress. This has required projects like The Sandbox to innovate new ways to collaborate and bring more value to Web3 users. Unlike traditional Web2 gaming platforms, we’re eager to collaborate with other Web3 projects and brands, curating avatar collections, offering LAND swaps so projects can launch their game in our ecosystem, and more, all in an effort to bring the broader Web3 ecosystem closer together and create more cross-platform value for our communities.

Social gaming and metaverse platforms like The Sandbox are steadily growing, proving that the vision of a user-driven, decentralized virtual world is still very much alive.”

State of the metaverse in 2024

“Last year was a defining one for the metaverse—less about hype and more about tangible growth and evolution. While the industry as a whole navigated challenges like interoperability and shifting market expectations, we also saw significant strides in user experience and engagement.

Advances in VR, AR, and AI have revolutionized user interaction with virtual worlds, enhancing immersion and accessibility. At the same time, the demand for connectivity between different metaverse ecosystems became more pressing, prompting companies to develop solutions for greater interoperability and cross-platform functionality.

For The Sandbox, 2024 was a year of strong momentum, particularly in user-generated content (UGC). Our no-code Game Maker tools empowered more creators than ever, resulting in over 1,500 experiences published on The Sandbox Map.

Our creator community grew, surpassing 25,000 LAND Owners and 62,000 Avatar Owners, reflecting rising demand for digital assets. Alpha Season 4 was a success, drawing over 580,000 unique players who engaged with content, completed quests and transacted on-chain. This growth proves that people want to create, explore, and play in the metaverse, and as we move into 2025, we’re excited to continue expanding opportunities for creators and players, shaping the next era of virtual experiences.”

What are three factors that can revive the Metaverse hype in 2025?

“Alpha Season 4, which concluded in December 2024, reinforced the global appeal of socializing and playing in the metaverse. People crave new experiences they can enjoy with friends, whether through casual games, chat rooms, or friendly competition.

Alpha Season 4 delivered on this demand, and in 2025, we’re committed to expanding and enhancing these interactive experiences even further. As the appeal for social gaming metaverses grows more mainstream, seamless player onboarding will be critical.

In Web3, players must create a wallet and complete KYC verification,