In Brief:
- The Sandbox (official site) is targeting October for the public release of its Studio game creation toolkit, following the August 12 debut of Studio Beta and Engine v14.
- The unified SceneNode system arrives with Engine v14 to handle how game elements are organized, while prefabs are promoted to first-class building blocks.
- Submissions for a $7,500 Game Jam run through September 11, with Larry Hryb sitting as lead judge.
The Sandbox prepares for public launch
October is the month The Sandbox has earmarked for taking Studio, its game creation toolkit, public. The move follows August 12, when Studio Beta and Engine v14 first appeared. With Engine v14, scene structuring is handled through the new unified SceneNode system, and prefabs have been elevated to first-class status to give creators more flexibility.
The work planned for September centers on sync multiplayer, including four-player competitive gameplay and matchmaking. Fresh kits and asset packs are also slated to arrive alongside Studio’s public release for game designers to use.
Updates in Engine v14
Among the notable changes in Engine v14 is a more intuitive way to organize meshes, characters, and cameras through the SceneNode system. Expanded prefab functionality means reusable content can be saved and edited without severing the link to the original assets.
Every user now has access to Studio’s AI Assistant, which runs faster and offers simplified sign-in options. The toolkit has also grown more versatile thanks to extra templates aimed at action genres plus new playable projects. On the editor side, functionality has been reworked with multi-select editing and smoother drag-and-drop actions.
Game Jam details
Running in parallel is The Sandbox Game Jam, which carries a $7,500 total prize pool. Its theme, Overgrown, puts the spotlight on transformation. The deadline for entries is September 11, and several categories are open to participants, with the top three placements taking home $2,500, $1,600, and $1,000. Serving as lead judge is Hryb — better known as Major Nelson — who will weigh entries on engagement and execution quality.
Engine v14’s upgrades also bring breaking changes, so creators still on earlier versions should review the migration notes bundled with the release.
Looking ahead
Monetization tools, full platform support, and a larger voxel library are all expected to arrive with the October launch, all geared toward improving the experience and creative range available across The Sandbox ecosystem.