Meta’s metaverse fees elicit creator scrutiny

Meta, Facebook’s parent group, announced that it’s rolled out payments products on its metaverse platform Horizon Worlds. Combined, its various sales fees could lead to Meta taking up to 47.5% of creator profits.

Why should we care?
Meta’s payments strategy may suggest the company has confidence in the long-term success and stickiness of its metaverse platform—perhaps too much confidence. Meta simultaneously wants to profit off the metaverse as quickly as possible (after a wholesale rebranding and extensive development costs) while guaranteeing its long-term popularity. Payments are key to that. While Meta beefs up Horizon Worlds, “the whole economy around it needs to work. It’s a really big focus for the company and for me personally,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. This comes fresh off the news that Meta is also trying to monetize existing platforms like Facebook and Instagram, creating an in-app currency dubbed “Zuck Bucks.” In its future-looking pivot, though, what products do or don’t sell on the metaverse are still undetermined, which “requires a lot of experimentation and creativity from the people who are building the worlds and building these experiences,” Zuckerberg continued. Taking half of creators’ money is one way to discourage experimentation. The company has launched a fee-free Horizon Worlds Creator Bonus program, but the disclosure of eventually exorbitant fees means Meta has already revealed its true intentions: excise as much profit as possible once it’s established metaverse dominance. This may encourage creators to move to other metaverse platforms and establish customer bases there. Now it’s a question of converting millions of unconvinced but potential consumers to the metaverse vision—no small feat.