Horizon Worlds, Meta’s Metaverse platform, has some “interesting” ideas for getting around in space. Incredibly, they have plans to charge creators up to 47.5% for the items they put up for sale, which many consider extortionate.

In Meta’s latest blog post, they announced that they are testing virtual sales within Horizon Worlds. Significantly, creators can sell fashion accessories for avatars or even offer access to their individual worlds.

The news of the proposed fees is surprising given Meta’s previous stance on Apple fees. In November, Mark Zuckerberg said, “As we build for the Metaverse, our focus is on providing opportunities for creators to monetize their work. The 30% fee Apple charges for transactions makes this difficult. So we are updating our subscription product to allow developers to earn more now.”

Why is Meta charging creators 47.5% for Horizon Worlds?

In fact, the reason Meta is asking so much is due to a number of reasons. First, Meta charges a standard 30% platform fee for all sales made on Meta Quest (formerly Oculus).

Now, Horizon Worlds, the Metaverse experience, is charged an additional 25%. Although there are concerns in the Web 3.0 community, Meta believes this is fair.

Vivek Sharma, Vice President of Meta at Horizon, said: “We think it’s a fairly competitive price in the market. We believe the other platforms can play their part.”

After all, this is the latest example of Meta attempting to dictate the direction of the Metaverse. But many are fighting back, and the community isn’t welcoming Meta or Horizon Worlds with the welcome guns they expected.