Apple criticizes Meta for almost 50% of the fees for selling digital items in its metaverse

We recently informed you that Meta (formerly Facebook) has announced that will sell digital items and experiences in its Horizon Worlds metaverse.

Meta charges almost 50% for selling digital items in Horizon Worlds

But what seemed to be good news for users who could monetize their business in a virtual reality game became the target of much criticism from Apple.

This is because Meta takes almost half the value of each sale. According to a company spokesman, the commission will be 47.5% of each transaction. This includes a 30% sales fee through the Meta Quest Store, where it sells apps and games for its virtual reality headsets, and a 17.5% fee for Horizon Worlds.

“We have structured our fees to put more money in the pockets of the world’s creators for the transaction than many others in the area,” a Meta spokesman said in an email. “It simply came to our notice then. We look forward to learning a lot about how our ecosystem of creators will evolve and how Horizon Worlds will grow. ”

The news of the high commission comes a few months after Mark Zuckerberg promised to make the metaverse more accessible and profitable for the creators.

Last year, the company strongly criticized Apple for charging developers a 30% fee in the Apple Store. At the time, Zuckerberg argued that building a metaverse would open up opportunities for creators to make money. In November 2021 he stated:

“30% of the fees that Apple charges for transactions make this difficult. We intend to update our subscription product so that creators can earn more. ”

Now that news of the nearly 50% rate has reached the public, Apple has responded accordingly. Apple spokesman Fred Sainz told MarketWatch:

“Meta has repeatedly challenged Apple to charge developers a 30% commission on the App Store. And at every turn, it made small businesses and creators our scapegoats. Now Meta is trying to charge these same creators significantly more than any other platform. That reveals the hypocrisy of this company. “