Meta (formerly Facebook) has ruffled a few feathers this week by announcing its plans for the monetisation of its Horizon Worlds Metaverse. Under Meta’s proposals, Horizon Worlds will support in-world purchases and content creators will be able to earn money by selling digital assets and experiences, but these will be subject to a commission, a near fifty percent commission, made up of a 30% Meta Quest Store hardware fee and a 17.5% Horizon Worlds platform charge.
In a statement shared on Monday, Meta said they are “beginning to roll out a test with a handful of creators that will let them sell virtual items and effects within their worlds. For example, someone could make and sell attachable accessories for a fashion world or offer paid access to a new part of a world.”
Apple has been particularly vocal in responding to Meta’s announcement, with Corporate Communications Senior Director Fred Sainz saying that: “I goes to show that while [Meta] seek to use Apple’s platform for free, they happily take from the creators and small businesses that use their own.” This is unsurprising as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously taken a swipe at Apple for its App Store commission, which it has previously labelled as “monopolistic”.
On top of its plans to monetise Horizon Worlds, Meta have also been talking about plans to introduce a new virtual currency, or "Zuck Bucks", as they are being referred to. This isn’t the first time that Meta has looked to create or support digital currencies in the Metaverse. Readers may remember Meta’s previous forays into the cryptocurrency space. Diem (formally known as Libra) was a blockchain-based stablecoin payment system launched in 2019, but which quickly ran into opposition from government regulators and was abandoned in January 2022.
Alongside a new digital currency includes new plans include a range of digital tokens such as "creator coins", "social tokens" and "reputation tokens”, that will be awarded to creator and users based on various criteria and achievements.
The question is “how long before we see what Meta has in store?”
Courtesy of Wix