Sebastien Borget, the French co-founder and COO of The Sandbox. Photo: Eric Piermont / AFP Big brands are rushing to the metaverse but the path to profit is still unclear and mass adoption may be years away, one of the sector's biggest players, Sebastien Borget, told AFP in an interview. Borget is co-founder of The Sandbox, a platform that began life as a game for mobile phones and PCs but is transforming itself into a virtual world where anyone can buy land in the form of digital tokens. Fashion brands like Gucci and Adidas, financial firms Axa and HSBC, and Warner Music are among those who have already chosen to set up shop in The Sandbox. "Above all, it is a place for creativity and experience," said Frenchman Borget, distancing himself from the idea that it is simply a commercial venture. "Brands don't go there to monetise, we don't know how to do that." Enthusiasts are convinced that internet users in the near future will shop, mingle with friends or go to concerts in platforms like The Sandbox or its main competitor Decentraland. Users will strap on virtual reality headsets, buy and sell in cryptocurrencies and have all their transactions stored on the blockchain – a kind...