Meta to charge metaverse developers about 50 per cent fee, much higher than Apple
India Today
The commission of 47.5 per cent that Meta has proposed is much higher than what Apple charges developers, 15 to 30 per cent.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, said it will charge developers working on metaverse apps a hefty fee of roughly 50 per cent — a move that is apparently not going well with the developer community. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company said the fee would, in a way, help developers earn money on its virtual platform, while the monetisation would provide encouragement in the development of Horizon Worlds metaverse.
The commission of 47.5 per cent that Meta has proposed is, however, much higher than what Apple charges developers, 15 to 30 per cent. Meta was among the few companies that criticised Apple for its cut in App Store payments. “The 30% fees that Apple takes on transactions make it harder to do that, so we’re updating our Subscriptions product so now creators can earn more,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in November.
Meta argues that its developers' fee includes a fee of 30 per cent for the hardware platform and a fee of 17.5 per cent for Horizon Worlds. Developers who are selling their products on Meta’s virtual platform have decried Meta’s proposed fees, which will be a fraction of an item’s price. Not just the developers, investors of Meta have shown concern about Zuckerberg’s vision of metaverse, terming it too much, too soon.
"If a creator sells an item for $1.00, then the Meta Quest Store fee would be $0.30 and the Horizon Platform fee would be $0.17 (25 per cent of the remainder), leaving $0.53 for the Creator before any applicable taxes," a Meta spokesperson was quoted as saying in a Business Insider report.
Meta said it will start testing monetisation tools on Horizon Worlds with a “handful” of creators, but eventually, all developers will have to comply with the company’s tax regime and that every developer will be able to buy and sell virtual products on Meta as a part of the company’s "long term vision for the metaverse." But, at the same time, Meta has clarified that the Meta Quest Store fee of 47.5 per cent will not always go to the company. Over the next few years, Meta will roll out more platforms like mobile and these platforms could charge their own fee.
