In Brief:
- The Sandbox (official site) said it’s stress-testing multiplayer, monetization and avatar systems in Studio with Alpha and Beta creators before opening the AI game creation platform more broadly.
- The company said it’s taking “a few extra weeks” before Public Launch, and November will focus on those three systems.
- Studio’s monetization runs on a partnership with Xsolla announced in October, and the first in-game shop and player inventory systems are now in testing.
The Sandbox SAND $0.0428 ▼ -14.6% is holding back the public launch of Studio for a few more weeks so Alpha and Beta creators can test its multiplayer, monetization and avatar systems first, the company said Nov. 5.
“Rather than rush the last step, we’re giving ourselves a few extra weeks to stress-test and polish Studio with our Alpha and Beta creators before opening it more broadly,” The Sandbox said in its October update for Studio, published Oct. 30.
We’re getting close, stress-testing and polishing Studio with Beta creators before opening it more broadly:
Multiplayer: real-time server-authoritative multiplayer, matchmaking, lobbies, dedicated servers, networked gameplay, and local testing tools.
Monetization: the
The company didn’t give a public launch date.
Three systems under test
Multiplayer is first on the list. The Sandbox said Studio now includes real-time server-authoritative multiplayer, matchmaking, lobbies, dedicated servers, networked gameplay and local testing tools. It’s also updating starter templates so multiplayer works out of the box.
On monetization, the first in-game shop and player inventory systems are being tested. The company said they support permanent items, consumables, free items and persistent ownership between sessions.
Avatars are third. The shared Avatar system is moving toward Beta testing, and The Sandbox said it’s reworking templates so Avatar support is built in by default. In its September roadmap the company described the system as one that lets players bring the same customized avatar across supported The Sandbox games.
“November is about putting these systems under real pressure, gathering feedback, and making the final adjustments before launch,” The Sandbox said.
Xsolla handles payments
The shop work builds on The Sandbox’s partnership with Xsolla, announced in October. The Sandbox said Xsolla operates across 200+ countries and territories, supports 1,000+ payment methods and handles more than 130 currencies.
Through the integration, Studio creators will be able to use Xsolla’s Web Shop, Pay Station, in-game purchasing, fulfillment and fraud protection without building that infrastructure themselves. The Sandbox said players will be able to pay with cards, local wallets, bank transfers and other regional methods in their own currency.
“For creators, the idea is straightforward: build the game, decide what makes sense to sell, and let the commerce infrastructure handle much of the complexity behind payments, tax, compliance, and fulfillment,” the company said.
The October update didn’t say how SAND fits into the shop being tested.
Game jams and Meshy AI
Creators shipped through two more game jams in October. The WTF? Jam asked for mobile-first games built to be shared, and Larry Hryb, the former Xbox spokesperson known as Major Nelson, returned as judge. The jam carried $4,000 in prizes, including a social ads budget for the winning game.
The Halloween Game Jam drew 31 submissions and had a $6,400 prize pool across main awards and special categories. Winners for both have been announced.
The Sandbox also kept working with Meshy AI, which generates 3D models from text prompts or reference images. Meshy’s Serafin Sanchez built 3D assets on a livestream with The Sandbox. Later in October, Meshy hosted a webinar called AI Assets. Real Gameplay with Philip Pardoe, a game designer at The Sandbox. It covered how to iterate quickly, keep a consistent visual style across an asset set and turn those assets into a tested, playable level in Studio.
Background
Studio’s beta opened in August. By September, The Sandbox said it had pushed two engine updates and that Beta Game Jam winners had published more than 40 games.
The September roadmap listed multiplayer on servers hosted by The Sandbox, Xsolla-powered monetization, the cross-game avatar system, in-game chat powered by Discord and a larger asset library as the remaining work before launch. The company is also reworking sandbox.game into a discovery platform for games built with Studio.
Wednesday’s post on X listed only the multiplayer, monetization and avatar work. The October update closed with one line: “A few more weeks of testing. Then: Public Launch.”
