Thunderbirds heads into the Sandbox metaverse

By John Freeman on March 13, 2023

Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club - Tracy Island Sandbox Metaverse Experience

ITV Studios and Reality+ have partnered on Tracy Island Sandbox Experience, set to take fans of the Thunderbirds TV show further into the metaverse as they take on quests in and around the International Rescue HQ – and a follow up Web 3.0 game is also in the works.

The Tracy Island Sandbox Metaverse Experience launched today, Monday 13th March as part of Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club, the Web3 reimagining of the classic TV show’s unique style by ITV Studios and Reality+, a web3 studio that has also created activations with the likes of Doctor Who through Doctor Who – Worlds Apart.

The special, time-limited Tracy Island event in the Sandbox Metaverse – a community-driven platform where creators can monetise voxel ASSETS and gaming experiences on the blockchain – will run for two weeks and give fans the opportunity to join forces with their favourite Thunderbirds characters to take on quests in and around the famous top secret International Rescue HQ.

The Tracy Island Sandbox Experience consists of 15 quests and mini-games, complemented by a plethora of Easter eggs and information about the original TV series.

Leveraging the benefits of Web3, fans can also browse the various digital collectibles, including a huge gallery take over in the Thunderbird 2 hangar, and a special voxel exhibition curated by Lady Penelope herself.

As part of the game’s play-to-earn mechanic players, will have the chance to win a slice of The Sandbox’s monthly prize pool fund (1,150,000 SAND, The Sandbox Experience currency, equivalent to £500,000), plus mystery gifts.

Part virtual real estate, part amusement park, The Sandbox fully embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space, in which players and brands can build, own, and monetise their experiences on the Ethereum blockchain.

ITV Studios initially partnered with Reality+ in September to launch the first interaction of Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club, a premium, utility-focused Web3 experience that enabled fans to buy and trade officially licensed NFT digital artworks based on the classic TV show. Owners of the NFT artworks were granted access to their own unique avatar for use in The Sandbox and now as part of the Tracy Island Sandbox Experience, which launches after a special month-long ‘F.A.B.ruary’ celebration of everything Thunderbirds, including new digital artworks reimagining iconic Thunderbirds characters vehicles.

The Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club community also became real life heroes when they generated over £15,000 to support the Dobrich Dog Rescue, as part of a real life rescue mission.

Going forward, ITV Studios and Reality+ will continue to develop and launch new features as part of the Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club, including community co-creation projects and interoperability of Thunderbirds NFTs with other partners.

Their next planned project is to create a Web 3.0 game called “Thunderbirds: Rescue Missions” where anyone can send their Thunderbirds away on missions to aid good causes and real-world prizes including tokens, NFTs and exclusive merchandise.

Reality Gaming Group develops innovative games and marketplaces that combine the best of traditional gaming with new technology based on the blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Including the NFT based trading card game Doctor Who: Worlds Apart. The Reality Gaming Group development team has more than 20 years’ experience across Mobile, PC, Console, AR and VR games platforms.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be working with ITV Studios,’ commented Reality+ co-founder Tony Pearce, “not only to help it push the boundaries of what’s possible in the world of Web3 entertainment, but for the opportunity to take such an iconic TV show on an exciting new journey with its fans.

“We have already achieved so much with Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club, and with fantastic partners like The Sandbox there’s much more to come.”

Lucie Stoffers, head of Brand & Licensing Global Entertainment at ITV Studios, added: “We are excited to work with Reality+ and The Sandbox team to take the next step in our partnership and bring Thunderbirds to The Sandbox. This will allow Thunderbirds fans from around the world to discover Tracy Island and complete new Rescue Missions, as well as get access to a bespoke NFT collection.”

• Head to The Sandbox online at sandbox.game | Twitter

• Sebastian Borget on Twitter
Co-Founder & COO of The Sandbox Game, the open NFT Metaverse sandbox.game. President of the Blockchain GameAlliance. Virtual LANDS owner

• Thunderbirds: International Rescue Club

The Reality+ Team on Twitter

• Morten Rongaard CEO
The brain behind Reality+ building award winning games Pioneer in NFTs and a frequent #Blockchain/Crypto speaker

• Tony Pearce – Co-Founder

• Tom Dawson – Marketing Manager

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.