APE Digital Creations Ltd, a subsidiary of local gaming equipment supplier Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Limited has officially launched its Mini Macau metaverse experience targetting travellers unable to come to the city due to pandemic restrictions.

The project was launched in Sandbox, a popular mobile gaming platform that allows users to create their own avatars to access the various hubs, environments and games on the crypto-driven metaverse.

APE noted that Mini Macau is a new business project targeting digital tourists who are unable to travel to major resort destinations due to COVID restrictions, and includes some of the city’s most well-known sightseeing sites, such as Macau Tower, The Senado Square, Ruins of St Paul’s and the Ah Ma temple.

“The launch of Mini Macau is APE’s first foray into the metaverse via Sandbox. We are delighted to have three local real-life Macau brands in our Mini Macau: Choi Heong Yuen Bakery, Seng Fung Jewellery and O Junco de 9 Jades restaurant. The virtual mini-shops have been built to showcase our cooperation with real retail brands from Macau on the metaverse,”

“We hope to expand Mini Macau to other Macanese brands for advertising and for online to offline booking/e-commerce opportunities,” APE Holding’s CFO and Executive Director, Tony Chan Chi Lun, noted in the project announcement.

Players who complete challenges within the game can win real life prizes redeemable in Macau.

Mini Macau will also serve as a prototype for the future development of APE’s own metaverse travel and hospitality platform, called the Resortverse, which will include real-life resorts and travel destinations.

APE has also previously announced it will issue a collection of Asia themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in June.

Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Ltd, is a Hong Kong-listed company, with its local subsidiary APE Macau involved in the supply of gaming equipment to land operators in Macau and across Asia for over 16 years.

After the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the local tourism and gaming industry, APE began diversifying into the operations of vending machines, and this year founding a new subsidiary, APE Digital Creations Limited, focused on the “development of the Metaverse and related businesses”.