Metaverse platforms Decentraland and The Sandbox are currently quite lonely, according to data from crypto marketplace tracker DappRadar. Both virtual worlds see well under 1,000 daily active users, with Decentraland having 23 active users in the past 24 hours and The Sandbox having 616 daily active users as of this article’s writing. The activity data was originally reported by CoinDesk.
DappRadar considers “active users” to be those who visit The Sandbox or Decentraland and make NFT purchases with SAND or MANA, the respective crypto tokens in each Ethereum-based game, in which users buy virtual land, goods or clothes for their avatars. Simply logging onto the platforms without engaging in a transaction is not counted as an active user, according to DappRadar.
Decentraland labeled DappRadar’s data as “misinformation” but admitted it defines active users as those who browse its platform without making paid transactions. Decentraland creative director Sam Hamilton claims it has 8,000 users on average per day, according to CoinDesk.
In a recent study from marketing agency Momentum Worldwide, findings showed that 81% of sports fans would pay to watch a sporting event in the metaverse. DappRadar's reporting of Decentraland and The Sandbox's low daily active user numbers show that consumer education is still necessary as sports fans are familiar with the metaverse but there are still parts of it that people do not fully understand. That study found that just 38% of fans are familiar with an open world environment and 28% are familiar with blockchain, two key components to The Sandbox and Decentraland.
Both Decentraland and The Sandbox report having market cap valuations over $1 billion. Banking company HSBC said earlier this year that it was buying land in The Sandbox to engage with the game’s sports communities. Esports franchise FaZe Clan also has a presence in The Sandbox, as well as skateboarder Tony Hawk, former tennis star Ana Ivanovic and PSG soccer star Marco Verratti. This year’s Australian Open operated a digital stadium in Decentraland, while Miller Lite hosted a virtual bar activation during the Super Bowl. Mountain Dew and esports team NYXL are also in Decentraland.
