Meta is testing new features to allow creators to earn money on their Metaverse platforms, with two new monetization options designed to encourage user contributions in their digital worlds.
The first is an expansion of its $10 million Horizon Worlds Creator Funding program, which launched in October of last year. Horizon Worlds is where creators can build their own immersive experiences and now, through the fund and the “goal-oriented bonus program”, Meta is starting to test pay participants from the United States. “These bonuses come in the form of monthly goal-oriented programs where creators are paid at the end of the month for their progress towards the goal,” the company explains.
The idea is to encourage creators to use their tools and build their worlds, but goals are largely determined based on the engagement a creator’s world receives. So, if the company sees that users are engaging with a certain element of their virtual experience, they can make it an incentive goal for others, for example.
“By using its community of creators, Meta has a better chance of exploring key trends and options that will drive more engagement, because the pool of creators is exponentially larger than the Meta team itself,” notes Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media. Today.
The second monetization option announced has gained quite a bit of attention, as Meta announced that it will allow some Horizon creators to sell virtual items and effects in their worlds – the idea being that creators can sell everything from access to a VIP section of their world. even virtual items like jewelry or a special basketball, for example.
Under this program, Meta will keep a portion of what creators sell: for Horizon purchases, this amount corresponds to 25%, but the remaining percentage after the platform fee. That is, when considering platforms with a 30% fee, such as the Quest Store (from Meta itself for VR titles), Meta is left with 25% of 70% and the creator will be left with just over half of the sale price.
By the end of 2021 Horizon Worlds had reached 300,000 monthly users in VR and in February the company announced that 10,000 worlds had been created. Meta is currently in early discussions about being on game consoles but says it’s in their plans to bring Horizon Worlds to mobile later this year.
Meta said that, for starters, purchasing items in Horizon Worlds will be available to adult users in the US and Canada.
