Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced virtual goods for sale inside his company’s budding metaverse property Horizon Worlds, bringing the potential for brands and creators to sell digital products similar to how they do inside Roblox. Meta could wind up taking close to 50% of the proceeds, based on transaction fees in its Quest store, which is Meta’s virtual reality app platform.

Metaverse glossary for brands

On Monday evening, Zuckerberg held a virtual roundtable with four creators, during which he announced the introduction of virtual goods, on sale in the Meta Quest store and available to use in Horizon Worlds, Meta’s open-world virtual reality playground. Brands have been expecting Meta to implement virtual goods, which are seen as one of the foundations for commerce in the eventual metaverse. Building for the metaverse has been a goal of Meta’s since it rebranded from Facebook last year.

Through his VR avatar, Zuckerberg said Meta would offer creators “the ability to sell virtual items and [charge for] access to things inside the worlds as a new part of the commerce equation.”

The ability to design and sell virtual goods is limited to a “handful of creators,” so far, Zuckerberg said, but the platform will open more widely. Zuckerberg described a few ways creators could make money from their VR projects, including digital goods, teaming up with brands to design products and experiences, and charging for entry into VR environments. “Some people will be selling things in-world,” Zuckerberg said. “Some will be selling access to worlds. Some will be doing sponsorships or streaming into other places.”

One developer, Kiernan Pierce, who is behind the VR meditation service Flutt3r, illustrated the point by suggesting she could sell angel wings as an accessory in Meta Horizon Worlds. Digital wings are a common accessory in gaming; PacSun has sold a popular version of fantasy wings in Roblox, for instance. Pierce said the wings could have utility in a virtual environment like Horizon Worlds by helping players fly, and the concept fits with Flutt3r’s overall vibe around active digital lifestyles. “I’m really looking forward to making my butterfly wings for people, so it’s something they can purchase that will support meditation,” Pierce said, “and they can wear [them] and then it will allow them to fly in the world, and it will reduce the gravity and things like that.”

Meta’s virtual goods plan does come with fees. The Quest Store takes a 30% fee from developers, and the Horizon Platform fee is 17%. A Meta representative said that the creators take 53% of the proceeds before taxes. “We’re confident that the fees we’re charging are competitive,” the Meta spokeswoman said by email, “and they allow us to invest in Horizon Worlds and grow the platform while also letting creators earn most of the revenue.”

Meta has 120 VR titles built by developers in the Quest Store that generate at least $1 million in gross revenue, the spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman also said that Meta plans to launch Horizon Worlds on app stores outside of the Quest device, which would make it available on more platforms outside Meta's properties. In those cases, Horizon Worlds' developers would be subject to other platforms' app store fees.

John McClay is another popular VR developer, who recently worked with Wendy’s on “Wendyverse,” the first major brand activation in Horizon Worlds. McClay spoke with Zuckerberg about the need for more creator tools in VR, such as textures that could help design more custom digital accessories. “I would really like the ability to either create my own texture, either within Horizon itself or to import them,” McClay said.

The idea of “interoperability,” to take designs and creations from one platform to another, is an important concept for building the metaverse. Brands, creators and consumers are hoping that products they sell or buy in one VR world could transfer to other ones. Zuckerberg acknowledged that vision for Web3: “The ability to sell virtual goods and being able to take them with you from one world to another is going to be an important part of it,” he said.

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