Meta Lets Horizon Worlds Metaverse Platform Users Sell Virtual Items
Meta starts with a test that allows certain creators within metaverse platform Horizon Worlds to sell virtual stuff to other users. It’s about digital goods, services ‘and experiences’ that can be bought. Meta gets a share of the proceeds.
It’s about a ‘handful’ of creators who can sell virtual items and ‘effects’ within their Worlds. Worlds are the virtual environments in which creators can build metaverse worlds. Meta gives the example of “attachable accessories” that users can purchase, presumably referring to things like jewelry that a user can wear. Users can also buy access to an entire World, or to a part of a World.
Against The Verge says Meta 25 percent of the sale, in addition to the compensation that the used sales platform also receives. Creators need to use such a sales platform to be able to sell stuff. An example of this is Meta’s own Quest Store. At that Quest Store, the fee is 30 percent. The creator therefore earns 70 percent of that. Of that 70 percent, Meta also wants 25 percent within Horizon, writes The Verge. That would mean that if a creator sells a $10 item in Horizon Worlds through the Quest Store, Meta would receive $4.75 and the creator would receive $5.25. Whether users can also use other sales platforms is not clear.
Purchasing items and services within Horizon Worlds is currently only possible for adults in the United States and Canada. Horizon Worlds cannot be used outside those markets for the time being. Meta also says it will set up a bonus program, where makers receive money for building popular worlds, for example.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says these monetization capabilities, along with sponsorships, for example, should make it possible for creators to ultimately live off the revenue they get from their metaverse worlds.
Horizon Worlds is part of Meta’s metaverse strategy and allows users to create games or ‘social hubs’, similar to, for example, Roblox. In February, Meta said its metaverse platforms, in addition to Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues, have 300,000 users. Tens of thousands of worlds have also been created. The Horizon platforms now require an Oculus Quest 2 headset, although Meta tells The Verge that it plans to bring the platforms to smartphones later this year. Also, there are “early talks” to bring the platforms to consoles.