The company rolls out a test with a small group of creators with a long-term goal of enabling them to "earn a living" in the metaverse.
Meta announced it is testing new features that will enable creators to monetize what they’re building within the company's social virtual reality app Horizon Worlds. The test will start with a "handful" of Horizon creators who will get access to selling items, services, and experiences inside of the app, and it will be the first step in building the metaverse where creators will be able to "earn a living".
In a video published on Monday as a part of a blog post, Mark Zuckerberg noted that "the ability to sell virtual items and access to things inside the worlds is a new part of [the] e-commerce equation overall". "We’re starting rolling this out with just a handful of creators and we’ll see how it goes but I imagine that over time we’ll get to roll it out more and more," he said.
The creators will have the opportunity to sell various virtual items and effects within their world: from attachable digital-fashion accessories to paid access to a new part of a particular world.
Speaking to Road to VR, Meta said that it plans to take nearly 50% of creators' earnings: the usual 30% fee the company charges developers selling apps through its VR platform and an additional 25% fee on top of the remaining amount. In return, the developers will get access to the platform's collaborative building tools and an audience. Besides, the company manages all hosting and networking costs associated with the items and experiences creators build.
Apart from rolling out the monetization test, Meta announced that the Horizon Worlds Creator Bonus program is also being tested in the USA. In addition to a $10 million fund to incentivize developers to work with Horizon Worlds, the Creator Bonus is focused on monthly payouts for progress towards goals such as the number of visits, time spent in the world, returning users, etc.
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