The Sandbox

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Dune: Awakening

The Sandbox is a blockchain-based virtual world and sandbox game that peaked in popularity during the NFT/metaverse boom around 2021-2022. Activity has dropped significantly since then, partly due to a wider decline in interest in crypto gaming and metaverse titles. It is still supported by Animoca Brands and has a steady, niche user base, but the current daily player count is relatively low compared to its peak. It does offer massively multiplayer elements but most spaces are instanced or event-driven, not a single persistent shared world.

As of late August 2025, Dune: Awakening had approximately 14,000 concurrent players, reflecting a significant decline from its peak of over 189,000 concurrent players shortly after launch in June 2025. This decrease is attributed to factors such as player burnout, game design issues, and technical problems. Despite these challenges, the developers remain optimistic, citing strong player retention and a 10-year development roadmap that includes plans to explore new planets and regions within the Dune universe. ([gamesradar.com](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-dev-says-player-retention-has-been-extremely-good-and-the-mmos-10-year-plan-still-has-so-much-to-pull-from-in-the-lore-well-go-to-new-planets-eventually/?utm_source=openai))