YGG Play Summit: Developing Future Web3 Builders with The Sandbox and Metaversity

YGG Pilipinas’ John Sedano moderated a fireside chat with The Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget to discuss the importance of maintaining Web3’s legacy of empowering future generations to create.

YGG’s educational arm Metaversity offers hands-on sessions to promote Web3 skill-building. Its collaboration with the Sisters of Mary School in the Philippines equips children from impoverished communities with essential skills to thrive in the digital future. With Metaversity, the school provides Web3 education from the basics of interfacing with blockchain technology to creating user-generated content.

Metaversity’s push to give budding creatives the opportunity to develop their game development and asset creation skills has been powered by The Sandbox, home to over 1,500 user-generated experiences and counting. During the YGG Play Summit, The Sandbox co-founder and COO Sebastien Borget joined YGG Pilipinas Campaign Director John Sedano to discuss the resources Web3 offers to budding creatives looking to start their careers.

Below is an excerpt from their conversation, where Sebastien cites programming and financial literacy as core skills that everyone can develop by participating in Web3, preparing them to live in an increasingly digital world. Sedano also hones in on the stories of Sisters of Mary students and aspiring Sandbox creators Aileen and Kryztine, featured in the short film Metaverse Filipino Worker, which sheds light on the alternative career paths Web3 has opened up for Filipinos all across the country.

Listen to the full recording on YouTube.

YGG Play Summit: The Metaverse Is Your Sandbox

Sedano (57:54): I think it's really beautiful to see news of kids making their own apps, making their own content, or even their own brands and platforms because the technology is ready. It really boils down to tools if it's there for them to use and easily accessible. And I think that is what you guys are doing really well.

Sebastien (58:21): Absolutely. Democratizing access to content creation and pushing for creativity. I think they’re tools that inspire people to do new things. Everyone dreams. I can draw, I can paint, I can make a video. But sometimes you realize taking an idea and putting it into practice is so hard, but with a new tool, it becomes so accessible. Drag and drop, you don't need to learn English, you don't need to learn programming. Anyone can make their own game on Sandbox.

I think the world, specifically the new generation, needs to learn and acquire two essential skills to be better prepared for the future. They need to learn programming at some point because we are a world that’s constantly evolving our technology, and if we don't understand how that technology works, we might be left behind.

Second, they need financial literacy because once the world understands property rights, what it means to save, to invest — and blockchain and Web3 bring these together, and you can’t imagine the amount of skills that you can gain by playing Web3 games and play-to-earn games. Typically, you learn to make proper decisions. You choose where you spend to upgrade your character and maximize the outcome you're constantly optimizing with strategy. Those are skills that we need in the real world to launch businesses, to make decisions, et cetera.

Sedano (59:52): It makes a perfect launch pad for these students who try out Sandbox for the first time. Whether they want to make a career in gaming in content, the business side, or maybe even esports or organizing events, they will need a platform to try it out on, and that's exactly what we've seen with Metaversity and The Sandbox.

We’ve been connecting the games, the platforms, and the tools with the gamers and the people who need it the most. We were watching the premiere of the Metaverse Filipino Worker documentary last night, and one of my favorite parts was seeing how a student from one of the poorest families in the Philippines got the opportunity to get into Sisters of Mary.

YGG partnered with the school, together with Metaversity and The Sandbox and teach kids how to make voxels and create something from nothing using The Sandbox. Yesterday, Gabby and Kalos touched on how blockchain gives people opportunities to create units of value from skill, time and effort. And now we've seen that.

Listen to the full recording and watch Metaverse Filipino Worker on YouTube.

Follow Sedano and Sebastien to learn more about the opportunities Web3 gaming is unlocking all over the world.

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