The largest metaverse builder community SandStorm has launched its self-serve build proposals, making it easier for brands to hire on-demand builders. SandStorm is a builder marketplace that currently spans 5 virtual worlds and eventually plans to expand across the entire open metaverse.
Through direct partnerships with virtual worlds, they’ve enabled brands to release build proposals onto the marketplace where thousands of verified builders can bid for the work. The release of self-serve proposals positions SandStorm to be a key pillar for virtual real estate construction and scale alongside the entire open metaverse market. Lowering the barrier to entry for brands to hire creators is a foundational step forward to provide more work for the metaverse builder economy.
As SandStorm continues to establish the metaverse construction market with a community of over 500,000 builders and enthusiasts, this week SandStorm announced their 5th virtual world partnership with the virtual commerce metaverse, SPACE. Through these virtual world partnerships, brands can now hire SandStorm builders to launch experiences in The Sandbox, Decentraland, Immersed, TCG World, and SPACE.
JP Morgan predicts that the metaverse will become a $1 trillion market opportunity in yearly revenues and virtual worlds will “infiltrate every sector in some way over the coming years.” SandStorm is positioned to be a key on-ramp for web2 brands entering the web3 virtual world and to support a large majority of the real estate construction over the next 2 years. Providing individual builders and studios with a suite of tools they need to start and scale their businesses on SandStorm is a key ingredient to establishing the market.
With 16 virtual worlds on SandStorm’s waiting list and thousands of builders eager to bid on builds being released by brands, the launch of self-serve functionality has been in the works for months. There is untapped demand for smaller budgets to test the metaverse waters before diving into full experiences. The average build proposals on SandStorm are $1,000 for avatars and wearables and go all the way up to $50,000 for full metaverse experience builds. Each proposal receives 7 to 10 bids from award-winning studios and individual builders within a few days similar to Upwork. Once the builders are vetted and selected by the brands based on their profiles, teams of 1 to 10 builders are hired to bring the brand's vision into the metaverse.
Similar to Airbnb and Uber in 2008 and 2009 with shared economy marketplaces taking off, SandStorm is at the forefront of the metaverse creator economy. Each builder has a profile with reviews to showcase their completed builds, skill-based verified badges, 3D work minted on the blockchain, and a social graph to grow a following.
As a featured startup at Web Summit this year, SandStorm will demo its self-serve build proposals publicly to thousands of attendees and investors next week. This high-profile demo empowers thousands of metaverse builders on SandStorm to get their work in front of large brands. To follow SandStorm announcements and more about how to test the metaverse waters with a build proposal check out SandStorm's marketplace here: https://app.sandstorm.co/