Meta’s Virtual Reality Platform Percentage Cut

Facebook-parent Meta is planning to cut up to 47.5% on the sale of digital assets on its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds, which is an integral part of the company’s plan to create a so-called “metaverse.”

In a blog post Monday, the social media giant announced that it is letting a handful of Horizon Worlds creators sell virtual assets within the worlds they build. However, the company failed to mention how much Meta will charge creators to sell their wares in the post.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed to CNBC Wednesday that Meta would take an overall cut of up to 47.5% on each transaction. That includes a “hardware platform fee” of 30% for sales made through the Meta Quest Store, where it sells apps and games for its virtual reality headsets. On top of that, Horizon Worlds will charge a 17.5% fee.

The size of the cut has angered some in the NFT community. One Twitter user wrote: “I hate you, Facebook.” Another said: “If Meta wants 47.5% of NFT sales, they gotta talk to the IRS because I don’t even have that after taxes.” Elsewhere, NFT marketplace OpenSea takes a 2.5% cut of each transaction, while rival LooksRare charges just 2%.

The Growth and Future Trajectory of The Metaverse

Over the last few months, companies and individuals have been snapping up everything from art to real estate in virtual worlds on platforms like Decentraland and The SandBox. Hip-hop star Snoop Dogg has purchased virtual land, and a fan paid $450,000 in December to buy a plot next door to him on The Sandbox.

Vivek Sharma, Meta’s VP of Horizon, reportedly told The Verge: “We think it’s a pretty competitive rate in the market. So we believe in the other platforms being able to have their share.”

Horizon Worlds (formerly Facebook Horizon) is a free virtual reality, an online video game that allows people to build and explore virtual worlds. Meta published the game on its Oculus VR headsets in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 9, but it’s yet to be rolled out worldwide.

Meta vs. Apple

Meta’s fees for selling virtual assets on Horizon Worlds are significantly more than Apple charges developers on its App Store. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta executives have previously criticized Apple for charging developers a 30% fee for in-app purchases via the App Store. In November, Zuckerberg said his company would try to help metaverse creators avoid Apple’s App Store fee.

“As we build for the metaverse, we’re focused on unlocking opportunities for creators to make money from their work,” he said. “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.”