Meta to charge content creators almost 50% to sell VR content

Posted:
in General Discussion
Meta's charges to content producers for Horizon Worlds' may be seen as hypocritical, with the social company potentially clawing in almost half the value of virtual item purchases, despite previous complaints about Apple's 30% App Store fee.

An example of a content payment interface in Horizon Worlds
An example of a content payment interface in Horizon Worlds


Meta's "Horizon Worlds" is the company's first major foray into creating a metaverse platform for its Quest VR headset owners. However, experiments to enable content creators to earn from the sale of in-world content may find Meta the subject of criticism, due to its previous anti-Apple comments.

It was revealed on Monday by The Verge that Meta would charge creators a 25% cut of digital content intended for Horizon Worlds. However, this is actually a cut from funds that will have already been charged a 30% platform fee via the Quest Store, which again is owned by Meta.

According to Meta's VP of Horizon, Vivek Sharma, this is a "pretty competitive rate in the market," adding "We believe in the other platforms being able to have their share."

With the app expected to expand from VR headsets to mobile devices and other platforms, Sharma's comments seem to indicate that the 25% will be independent of whatever charges the platform takes. In effect, if launched on iOS, Apple would receive its standard 30% fee for App Store in-app purchases.

The problem comes in when you consider how much Meta stands to benefit from content sold via its own Quest Store. After its own 30% platform fee, the 25% cut is taken from the remaining 70%, so Meta will receive 47.5% of the value of sold content while content creators receive 52.5%.

The fees and comments could be considered hypocritical by industry observers who saw how pre-Meta-rebrand Facebook fought Apple's 30% fee.

In August 2020, shortly after Epic Games filed its lawsuit against Apple, Facebook app executive Fidji Simo openly complained about the App Store fee, declaring that it hurt small business owners attempting to recover from the effects of the COVID-19pandemic.

Later the same month, Facebook said Apple rejected a transparency notice the social network attempted to provide to users, alerting them to the 30% App Store fee. Facebook again framed it as attempting to "help people understand where money they intend for small businesses actually goes."

Facebook raised the issue again in June 2021, insisting it wanted to promote "offline transactions" between creators and companies, again to avoid having to pay Apple's 30% fee.

While Meta's maximum 47.5% cut is high, it's not as bad as the situation with Roblox. In August, a report into developers for the platform revealed content creators had a hard time earning revenue.

Part of it is due to content creators receiving around 35% of the purchase price, with the remainder going to various fees incurred via Roblox's platform, as well as the App Store fee.

For creators working on Horizon Worlds, it won't be the only way to earn money from the project. US-based creators will be able to earn from a $10 million creator fund, which will reward those who produce the most-engaging experiences.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    Gotta love these guys.
    thtlolliverqwerty52watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 23
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,663member
    These folks owe Apple an apology. 

    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    JFC_PAJapheyBeatsmagman1979qwerty52watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 23
    viclauyycviclauyyc Posts: 849member
    These folks owe Apple an apology. 

    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    I think Mark Z feel very entitled for all the shit he/fb did. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 23
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
  • Reply 5 of 23
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    Market forces. Charge too much, a competitor steps in. We’ll see. 
    ravnorodomwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 23
    And yet epic games will still only complain about Apple’s App Store 
    FileMakerFellermwhitelolliverBeatsmagman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 23
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
    People are complaining about getting sick from the meta verse, so I don’t think it is the future. Maybe after one or two decades if it doesn’t die out. How many 3D movies are watched at home anymore? Add in sexual harassment that is already happening to further dampen things. 
    mwhitewatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 23
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    But but but but Apple's fees are outrageous! /s

    The irony of it all. Apple makes the first easy-to-use Personal Computer which was a true revolution in 1984 with the Macintosh. Steve Jobs leaves Apple, Apple gets major flak for the next 12 plus years from the Wintel crowd, Steve Jobs returns and brings the company back to health, revolutionizes the smartphone industry, Steve passes, and Apple goes on to be a trillion-dollar company, multi-billion dollar app developers and European countries criticize, sue and fine Apple for making a profit.
    mwhitelolliverBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 23
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
    Trying to stoke demand where none currently exists is a difficult task. Just because huge amounts of money are being thrown at a new idea doesn't make it "inevitable" - success comes when end users demand something, not when there is an overwhelming supply of something. The players behind "the metaverse" are going to have to exploit their control over existing services and platforms (and contend with customer and regulatory backlash) to boost adoption rates to critical mass before the next big thing comes along.

    Also, "literally every single tech company" is fabulist hyperbole. The ones with a clear path to profit are pushing to make it happen, the ones with enough money to cover their FOMO are spending enough to not be left behind while they wait to see how things go, and the rest are working on AI and/or their existing services portfolio.

    This article tells us that the "developer community" for the new "platform" is also going to face serious headwinds when it comes to building stuff to sell. So, yes, it's another reason for the metaverse to fail: firstly, consumer apathy needs to be overcome, and secondly the ecosystem is unlikely to flourish because Facebook wants to collect rent as a (hefty!) percentage of sales. Look at fairly recent history: video calling only took off because of the CoVID-19 measures (after 15 years or so of availability) and has never had an ecosystem, 3-D movies/TV shows had a lot of money thrown at them but remain nowhere, iPhone software development started with massive demand but the ecosystem is struggling because Apple is the gatekeeper extracting rent for market activity on its platform, Windows Mobile died a lingering death despite Microsoft paying substantial amounts to third-party developers for native apps.

    Frankly, if the metaverse is to succeed to the level its promoters are suggesting, it needs to be a system controlled by a non-profit organisation and based on open protocols - just like the internet and the world wide web. I don't see that happening.
    ravnorodom
  • Reply 10 of 23
    docbburkdocbburk Posts: 109member
    Yet Senators are gobbling up some of the poo that Mets is shoveling when it comes to Apple. I have lost a lot of respect for the senators attacking the App Store and apple.  They need to read Don Quixote.  
    Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 23
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
    Trying to stoke demand where none currently exists is a difficult task. Just because huge amounts of money are being thrown at a new idea doesn't make it "inevitable" - success comes when end users demand something, not when there is an overwhelming supply of something. The players behind "the metaverse" are going to have to exploit their control over existing services and platforms (and contend with customer and regulatory backlash) to boost adoption rates to critical mass before the next big thing comes along.

    Also, "literally every single tech company" is fabulist hyperbole. The ones with a clear path to profit are pushing to make it happen, the ones with enough money to cover their FOMO are spending enough to not be left behind while they wait to see how things go, and the rest are working on AI and/or their existing services portfolio.

    This article tells us that the "developer community" for the new "platform" is also going to face serious headwinds when it comes to building stuff to sell. So, yes, it's another reason for the metaverse to fail: firstly, consumer apathy needs to be overcome, and secondly the ecosystem is unlikely to flourish because Facebook wants to collect rent as a (hefty!) percentage of sales. Look at fairly recent history: video calling only took off because of the CoVID-19 measures (after 15 years or so of availability) and has never had an ecosystem, 3-D movies/TV shows had a lot of money thrown at them but remain nowhere, iPhone software development started with massive demand but the ecosystem is struggling because Apple is the gatekeeper extracting rent for market activity on its platform, Windows Mobile died a lingering death despite Microsoft paying substantial amounts to third-party developers for native apps.

    Frankly, if the metaverse is to succeed to the level its promoters are suggesting, it needs to be a system controlled by a non-profit organisation and based on open protocols - just like the internet and the world wide web. I don't see that happening.
    Perhaps I should have said “every single tech company of worth”, would that have been less fabulist? Consumer demand is apathetic because the technology is still in its nascent stage. And just because those companies described in your recent history list failed or were unsuccessful doesn’t mean that AR or VR will be too. That is a hasty generalization. And yes, it did take video calling 15 years or whatever to take off, but so what? I never said AR/VR would take off tomorrow, only that it is the future. I’m really sorry that so many here lack the vision and are unable or unwilling to grasp just how huge this technology is going to be. But, as Henry Ford said: “faster horses”. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 23
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Why do people only care when Apple does it?

    Companies that make a profit from their 3rd parties using their business platform:
    Amazon
    Wal-Mart
    Nintendo
    Sony
    Microsoft
    Facebook
    Kroger
    Spotify
    Steam
    ravnorodomretrogustoqwerty52watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 23
    Meta can charge all they want. It all boils down to consumer’s demands. VR exists way before defuncted 3D TV and iPhone. Miraculously its demand remains steady but it’s still a niche like console games. I don’t think it will take off like wild fire such as iPhone. 
    edited April 2022 watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 23
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
    He didn't say that all.  Try reading the post a little slower this time.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 23
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 

    Lots of companies were conviced 3D television was the future too.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 23
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    welshdog said:
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 

    Lots of companies were conviced 3D television was the future too.
    So what? A does not equal b. Why do you people have such a hard time with that?
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 23
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    flydog said:
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
    He didn't say that all.  Try reading the post a little slower this time.
    Chill out, Mr. Helper. That’s exactly what he meant. Did you have anything of actual worth to add? Or was that all?
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 23
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Japhey said:
    flydog said:
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 
    He didn't say that all.  Try reading the post a little slower this time.
    Chill out, Mr. Helper. That’s exactly what he meant. Did you have anything of actual worth to add? Or was that all?
    The OP literally said "just another reason..." thereby clearly indicating a belief that there are additional reasons.  So your "a failure just because" is misrepresenting what was said.

    Count me out for metaverse too; no interest.
    welshdogwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 23
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,309member
    welshdog said:
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 

    Lots of companies were conviced 3D television was the future too.
    I'm still waiting for the promise of 5G...and it's always just around the corner.
    welshdogwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 23
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    Japhey said:
    welshdog said:
    Japhey said:
    Just another reason the metaverse is a failure in concept. 
    The metaverse concept is a failure just because one company is hypocritically charging creators too much? I’m not following the logic here. The metaverse, or whatever it ends up being called, is the future and it is inevitable. That’s why literally every single tech company on the planet is working on a version of it. 

    Lots of companies were conviced 3D television was the future too.
    So what? A does not equal b. Why do you people have such a hard time with that?

    Didn't say A=B. What I said is companies can be wrong. Why do you have such poor comprehension?
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
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