Quick take:
- There are “early discussions” about bringing Horizon Worlds to game consoles.
- A release date for the web and mobile versions has not yet been set.
- Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said the web version of Horizon Worlds will only take a 25% fee.
Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth revealed in a tweet on Thursday that the company will be launching a web version of Horizon Worlds. Currently only available on the Quest VR headsets, a web version of Horizon Worlds would be a major step for the expansion of the metaverse platform.
According to The Verge, Meta VP of Horizon, Vivek Sharma, said that the company is also working on bringing Horizon Worlds to mobile phones this year, and is in “early discussions” to bring it to game consoles.
The release dates of the web and mobile versions of Horizon Worlds have yet to be disclosed. When asked, Meta spokesperson Iska Saric told The Verge that there were “no timing details to share at this time.”
Boz’s tweet was part of a thread defending Meta’s newly introduced fee structure on Horizon Worlds, which has been met with disappointment. A company spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that the company will charge a 30% hardware platform fee for sales made through the Meta Quest store while Horizon Worlds will charge a 17.5% fee.
Meta revealed on Tuesday that it will take a 25% cut of sales left after any platform fee. Boz said that Horizon’s web app will only charge a 25% fee as users would not have to pay any other platform fees unlike those who sell their goods through the Meta Quest Store.
25% for Horizon. If the platform underneath it takes a cut the 25% comes after that. So if the platform underneath takes 30% as many do (Apple, Google, Oculus) it comes out to 47.5% total, similar to the Roblox and YouTube rates.
— Boz (@boztank) April 14, 2022
Claiming that the fee percentage is lower than “other similar world-building platforms,” Boz appeared to be hitting out at Roblox, which – according to its cash payout structure – pays its developers 28 cents per dollar spent.
Compared to Roblox’s 72% cut, Meta’s 47.5% seems to be lower. With its plans to expand to web and mobile, Meta will be directly competing with Roblox.
Boz also criticised Apple for charging developers a 30% commission for App Store transactions and a “significant margin on their devices.” In response, Apple had some choice words 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 used small businesses and creators as a scapegoat at every turn,” Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz told 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 show that while they seek to use Apple’s platform for free, they happily take from the creators and small businesses that use their own.”
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