The Sandbox Cuts Half of Its Staff, Restructures as Animoca Brands Take Control

Metaverse platform The Sandbox is undergoing a sweeping restructuring that will see more than half of its roughly 250 employees laid off, according to a report from French crypto outlet The Big Whale.

The move comes alongside a leadership shake-up in which co-founders Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borget have been sidelined from executive roles, according to the report.

Animoca Brands told CoinDesk in an emailed statement that both Madrid and Borget have been moved to new "strategic roles" within the Sandbox ecosystem. Madrid is now the chairman of the board of The Sandbox, and Borget is its global ambassador. Robby Yung, CEO of investments at Animoca Brands and a director of The Sandbox, has been appointed as CEO of The Sandbox.

Animoca also noted that Sandbox has always been "controlled by Animoca Brands" and that Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, has been a primary driver of the project since 2018.

"The restructuring represents The Sandbox’s and Animoca Brands’ commitment to the platform, SAND token holders, LAND owners, and the broader community," said Animoca's spokesperson.

Office closures

The restructuring reportedly also includes closing offices in Argentina, Uruguay, South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey, with the company’s base in Lyon also expected to shutter.

Animoca confirmed the closure of five work locations as part of the restructuring, noting that multiple such locations consisted of just 1-3 freelance contractors working remotely or in coworking spaces. Sandbox will have nine locations around the globe after restructuring.

The measures highlight the platform’s struggle to translate years of investment into sustained user engagement. Despite raising $300 million over the past eight years, The Sandbox has seen its daily active users dwindle to just a few hundred, many of whom, Big Whale's sources alleged, are bots operating primarily in South America—a claim that Animoca's spokesperson contested in the email statement to CoinDesk.

"Regarding the claim that The Sandbox has 'many' bots, The Sandbox does not tolerate abuse of its Terms of Service and actively invests in robust fraud prevention and anti-cheat measures in monitoring, preventing, and addressing fraudulent or automated activity to protect the experience of players."

Animoca also told CoinDesk that Sandbox's daily active users fluctuate significantly based on in-game events, most notably the Alpha Seasons.

"During an Alpha Season (the most recent one concluded in May 2025), the Game Client component of The Sandbox, which is how users access and play the game, experiences a high level of user activity. That activity subsides after the end of the event," the spokesperson said.

Crypto winter

The platform’s native token, SAND, has also performed poorly despite the crypto market entering an "altcoin season" in recent months. It had a market cap of $6.2 billion in 2021—during the last crypto bull run.

After years of brutal crypto winter, that figure has now slumped to around $700 million following a 90% drawdown.

Total crypto market cap is up by 26% since Nov. 2021, according to TradingView data.

UPDATE (Aug. 31, 17:18 UTC:) Updates the story throughout to add comments from Animoca regarding the restructuring. Also, notes that Robby Yung has become The Sandbox's CEO, not Yat Siu, as was reported earlier. Also removed the second and third last paragraphs from the previous story, which talked about Sandbox's crypto treasury.