OnChainMonkey is partnering with The Sandbox to provide playable avatars to genesis OnChainMonkey NFT holders, according to an announcement from the project. 

Those who hold genesis OnChainMonkey NFTs can now generate their playable avatar in the Sandbox Shop. 

To complement the playable avatars, OnChainMonkey also funded the build of an OCM-themed plot in The Sandbox in which the team will host a virtual party in the next few weeks. Details on the exact time and date will be provided at a later time. 

The collaboration pairs OCM with The Sandbox, both of which share mutual investors and connections like Yat Siu of Animicoa Brands and Sebastian Borget, the co-founder of The Sandbox. The OCM parent company, MetaGood, recently announced a pre-seed funding round of $5 million. 

The Sandbox announced a new partnership with OpenZeppelin to launch a comprehensive metaverse security service, via Twitter this morning, in an important move to build trust in an NFT user base rocked by hacks and exploits.

The Sandbox describes the OpenZeppelin security service as the first of its kind, and it includes real-time monitoring for threats and outliers along with routine code and smart contract analysis. The service leverages the Forta Network, with Forta leading the smart contract and transaction activity monitoring and providing an alert service.

“Our unique new service for comprehensive metaverse security is a step forward for metaverse and Web3 projects that have been reliant on piecemeal audits up until now," said Michael Lewellen, Head of Solutions Architecture at OpenZeppelin. "Metaverse projects can now leverage ongoing audit expertise to go beyond the code to support better security practices for on-chain monitoring, access control, and other enhancements that are crucial for securing future growth."

The details of the security service are pretty impressive. The services included in The Sandbox's purchase include:

• ongoing audit support of The Sandbox's metaverse, including ERC20 tokens, meta-transactions, NFTs and smart contracts, and escrowless auctions
• providing monitoring recommendations
• leveraging 10 detection bots to monitor transactions and try to identify potential attacks before they happen
• integrating The Sandbox's existing management systems into an all-in-one dashboard for automation called the OpenZeppelin Defender
• full incident response training

OpenZeppelin's first action was the audit of a Sandbox staking contract back in November, with that staking service to be rolled out soon.

For The Sandbox's upcoming LAND sales, it will utilize a brand new raffle system, according to a recent announcement from the team.

The raffle system is designed to make the LAND drops more fair. KYC (know your customer) is required to purchase LAND, and hopeful participants can KYC here. To purchase LAND, raffle participants will also have to hold at least 1,011 SAND, The Sandbox's native utility token, in their wallet.

All sales are now on the Polygon network. SAND can be bridged over from Ethereum here.

Extra raffle tickets are available for holders of select NFT collections and Alpha season participants. Raffle winners can only purchase one LAND over a 24-hour period. Any unsold LANDs will be auctioned off via OpenSea.

To enter the raffle, participants must register here, click "Enter Raffle," and select the raffle they want to join. These steps will require a wallet signature. Make sure to use Polygon, complete KYC, and hold enough SAND for the purchase. Raffle winners will receive a message that they are whitelisted.

Sandbox has revamped its main land map on its website, the platform announced Friday.

The map has a new look and Sandbox is touting its "improved navigation and performance" and a closer zoom level. Users can now find land easier next to land owned by brands, like Lulu Land or Atari. 

To check out the new map, go to the Sandbox website.

Care Bear avatars are "true to size", and are smaller than a typical Sandbox build. Avatars will be able to participate in multiplayer experiences, earn SAND through play and earn opportunities, and unlock upcoming features and content, according to the website. 

"My favorite experience was (besides the 24-hour stream) was the community games put on by all the Ambassadors," one Twitter user said. "Also, (despite my best last minute efforts) fighting to stay sub 10,000 was always a rush."

"That was incredible," said another. "As a genuine metal head my favorite experiences were of course the Avenged Sevenfold and the Tools of Rock NFT ones."

Other players did not enjoy the experience.

"Players have spent two months of their life to get nothing," one Twitter user said. "A lot of unnecessary changes that ruined overall experience and the speedrun mechanic."

Gucci is launching an experience in The Sandbox starting today, October 27, and continuing through November 9.

Described as an "immersive 360° experience," players will be able to complete quests to earn Gucci Vault Boxes as prizes. The total prize pool is 500,000 $SAND ($394,800) and also includes "exclusive digital collectibles."

Up to 10,000 players will be able to win, but eligibility requires holding one Gucci Vault Box and having a registered The Sandbox account.

Players can register for the experience at this link.

To go along with the virtual experience, Gucci is also launching voxel digital collectibles today in The Sandbox Marketplace. There will be eight Gucci Vault collectible types, including:

• Safe
• GCC-VLT Statue
• Giant Chessboard
• Bag
• Car
• PC
• Skate Rail
• Hat

More details can be found in the team's Medium post.

In celebration of 1000 days of the Sandbox Metaverse, the leading metaverse company is giving away $SAND, its native utility token to holders of its land NFTs.

Own a Sandbox land parcel NFT? You can check if you're eligible for the claim by heading to https://sandbox.game/en/me/claim/. Users must first sign in to the Sandbox website in order to check the claims page. 

There is a total of 2.6 million $SAND available for land NFT owners, approximately $1.9 million at current $SAND prices. 

The Sandbox and other metaverses had recently come under scrutiny for low user numbers, but Sandbox and others struck back, claiming that they have experienced steady growth in recent months. 

The Sandbox just announced a 30,000 $SAND prize (~$23,000) for the first 5 people to crack this riddle on their Twitter feed.

Users are directed to click a link, taking them to a Medium post called "The Riddletons - not bored." The page contains the prize details, some rules, and how to get started.

What are you waiting for - get solving!