Meta Lets Some Horizon Worlds Creators Sell Virtual Assets — Fees Spark Outrage
Meta intends on taking a 47.5 percent cut from creators who complete the sale of a digital asset on its Horizon Worlds platforms. Here's a breakdown of the cost.
April 13 2022, Published 3:52 p.m. ET
When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg first shed light on the idea of a metaverse, many questioned the objective. What would its purpose be? As the months have gone on, the answer to that has become quite clear. The metaverse is a home away from home. In the metaverse, you can attend events, purchase property, and soon, will be able to buy virtual goods and experiences from Horizon Worlds creators.
As exciting as this sounds, Horizon Worlds creators may be in for an unsettling surprise as Meta, formerly known as Facebook, intends on taking a significant chunk of their profits.
Meta has started testing tools that enable creators to earn an income through the sale of virtual goods.
Horizon Worlds is a virtual reality platform that was created by Meta. While Horizon Worlds isn’t a new platform, it certainly has evolved. If you own either a Rift S or Quest 2 virtual reality headset, you can access Horizon Worlds along with any of the realms featured inside of it.
The realms, or events, found inside Horizon Worlds are created by individuals called “creators.” The realms allow you to partake in different things like meditation, gaming, or even social events.
Although Meta says it's still in the early stages of building out Horizon Worlds, Zuckerberg recently announced that the company is now allowing select creators to sell virtual assets or even experiences. While this could certainly help individuals bring in an additional stream of income, it appears as though Meta will be asking for nearly half of the proceeds a creator collects when they complete a sale.
Here’s a breakdown of how much Meta plans to charge Horizon Worlds creators who sell digital assets.
On April 11, 2022, Meta announced that it would be rolling out a test with certain creators, allowing them to begin selling virtual items within their worlds in the metaverse. One example Meta gave would be to allow a creator to sell fashion accessories they could attach to their characters similar to how gamers can do with their characters in games like Roblox.
Meta says items will only be made available for purchase to those who are 18 years and older in the U.S. and Canada (these are the locations where Horizon Worlds is currently available). Although the multinational technology conglomerate didn't share details on the fees it would be assessing to its sellers, other sources like Reuters did.
It appears Meta intends to take a 47.5 percent cut of the digital sales that are made on its Horizon Worlds Platforms, reports Reuters. This total percentage can be broken down as follows: sellers will be subject to a “30 percent hardware platform fee for sale made through Meta Quest Store” and an additional “17.5 percent cut as its Horizon platform fee.”
Although Meta is still in the testing phase and will likely need to make modifications before it allows all other creators to sell on the Horizon Worlds platform, the initial fee has already sparked outrage via social media.
