Gordon Ramsay’s Sandbox avatar NFTs coming to the metaverse

Lovably cantankerous head of “Hell’s Kitchen” Gordon Ramsay is getting the full blockchain treatment.

Metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox announced that Ramsay — a Michelin star chef and main draw of the reality cooking show “Hell’s Kitchen” — is being turned into a collection of non-fungible token (NFT) avatars that users will be able to mint later this month. There will be a total of 2,333 Ramsay avatars, The Sandbox said via Twitter.

Users of The Sandbox will be able to roam and play games inside the blockchain-enabled metaverse platform using one of the Ramsay avatars. The Sandbox has also dropped an NFT avatar collection based on the web3 enthusiast and musical celebrity Snoop Dogg. The rapper’s avatar collection has generated nearly $12 million in trading volume, according to OpenSea.

Web3 gaming and metaverse platforms have generally struggled to go mainstream and attract a significant number of users, but some companies, including The Sandbox, have been highly successful in attracting major corporate partners and some celebrities keen to get in on the ground floor. Late last year The Sandbox announced a partnership with ITV Studios and plans to create a metaverse experience inspired by Ramsay’s show “Hell’s Kitchen.”

Screenshot from Gordon Ramsay avatar teaser trailer on Twitter.

The Sandbox has also worked with large companies like HSBC, Warner Music, PlayBoy, Gucci and Ubisoft. Additionally, long-time celebrity influencer Paris Hilton struck a deal with the company last year.

While speaking at NFT Paris, Sebastien Borget, chief operating officer of The Sandbox, told The Block he believes that the brand recognition his company has achieved thus far will eventually help lure independent creators to build on the platform. The Sandbox has said it has 201,000 monthly active users. 

The Sandbox plans, in the coming days, to release more details on how users will be able acquire a Ramsay avatar.