Meta will take 47.5% of sales from digital content creators, but last year it said Apple’s 30% cut in in-app sales makes it harder for creators to earn money from their work.
As Meta sets fees for metaverse creators that will take almost half of its profits, Apple argues that the move is hypocritical given the social network’s attacks on Apple’s 30% fee.
Earlier this week, Facebook’s parent company Meta announced plans to expand the options available to creators to sell virtual assets in its metaverse. But the company plans to take a 25% cut of those sales, on top of the 30% cut it already takes through its Meta Quest platform. In total, Meta will take 47.5% of the sales of digital content creators.
The move, according to Apple, “exposes Meta’s hypocrisy.”
“Meta has repeatedly targeted Apple for charging developers a 30% fee for in-app purchases on the App Store,” Apple spokesman Fred Sainz told Marketwatch (opens new window). “Now, Meta is looking to charge those same creators significantly more than any other platform.”
In November, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Facebook (Opens in a new window) that the company “is focused on unlocking opportunities for creators to earn money from their work. The 30% fees Apple charges for transactions make it more difficult to do.” .”
At the time, Zuckerberg mocked promotional links for creators for his Subscriptions offers, of which Facebook would not take a part, and spoke of a previously announced $1 billion creator investment. Earlier that year, Facebook also said it would keep paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges, and upcoming standalone news products commission-free until 2023.
However, apparently all bets are off in the metaverse. Currently, Meta has a strong presence there; Meta’s Quest 2 had approximately 78% of the market in 2021, according to IDC (opens in a new window). While Apple isn’t directly competing in the AR/VR space yet, an Apple headset has been long anticipated. We’ll have to wait and see how Apple’s fees for creators on its platform compare to Meta’s if and when such a platform arrives.
