Meta is planning to advise its Horizon Worlds social metaverse platform to the web, Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said in a tweet on Thursday. Being available on the web would mark a major expansion for the platform, which is currently only available on its Quest VR headsets.
A web version isn’t the only one in the works — this week, Meta VP of Horizon Vivek Sharma advised The Verge that it’s working on bringing Horizon to cellular phones later this year and is in “early discussions” about bringing it to game consoles. Nonetheless, it’s quiet unclear exactly when Horizon could expand to the web, and Meta spokesperson Iska Saric said there were “no timing details to share at this time” once we asked.
Boz’s tweet was integrated in a thread defending Horizon’s newly-announced rate structure for creators, which has near under some scrutiny. On Tuesday, Meta revealed that for Horizon purchases, it could take a 25 percent lower of the percentage left after any platform payments.
For the Horizon web app, this means that Meta would only take 25 percent, as Boz pointed out. Nonetheless for platforms with a 30 percent rate, savor Meta’s appreciate Quest Store, it could take 25 percent of 70 percent. That means that for items sold in Horizon on a Quest VR machine, Meta will take an see-popping 47.5 percent of each transaction.
When Horizon’s web version launches, the Horizon platform rate will only be 25%—a grand lower rate compared to other similar world-building platforms.
— Boz (@boztank) April 14, 2022
Boz claims that rate is lower than every other “world-building platforms” — a shot that appears to be aimed in part at Roblox, which has also near under criticism for the way it pays developers. In a chart showing “the estimated utilization of each dollar spent on Roblox,” Roblox indicates that it pays developers lawful 28.1 percent of each dollar, meaning Meta’s Horizon lower, even from purchases on Quest headsets, appears to be lower than what Roblox takes on its platform. And in expanding from VR to platforms savor cellular and the web, Meta will probably be taking Roblox head-on, so this won’t be the last time we gaze Meta make some pointed phrases in Roblox’s direction.
Meta has also often criticized Apple for taking a 30 percent lower of many App Store transactions — Boz did so in his thread on Thursday as neatly — and Apple had some of its appreciate sharp language for Meta. “Meta has repeatedly taken aim at Apple for charging developers a 30% commission for in-app purchases in the App Store — and have customary small companies and creators as a scapegoat at every turn,” Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said to MarketWatch. “Now — Meta seeks to charge those same creators significantly more than any other platform. [Meta’s] announcement lays bare Meta’s hypocrisy. It goes to reveal that while they stare to make utilize of Apple’s platform free of charge, they happily take from the creators and small companies that utilize their very appreciate.”
