Meta’s Horizon Worlds Metaverse Platform Coming to Web

MetaversePlanet April 15, 2022

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Meta is planning to expand its Horizon Worlds social metaverse platform to the web, according to a tweet by Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth on Thursday. The move to make the platform available on the web would mark a significant expansion as it is currently limited to Meta’s Quest VR headsets.

This web version is not the sole development; Meta VP of Horizon, Vivek Sharma, mentioned to The Verge that the company is also working on bringing Horizon to mobile devices in the near future and is in early discussions about extending it to gaming consoles. However, the exact timeline for Horizon’s expansion to the web remains unclear, and Meta spokesperson Iska Saric stated that there were no timing details to share at the moment.

Boz’s tweet was part of a thread defending Horizon’s recently announced fee structure for creators, which has faced scrutiny. Meta disclosed on Tuesday that for Horizon purchases, it would take a 25% cut of the amount left after any platform fees.

Meta's Horizon Worlds Metaverse Platform Coming to Web

For the Horizon web application, this implies that Meta would only take 25%, as Boz highlighted. However, for platforms with a 30% fee, like Meta’s own Quest Store, it would take 25% of 70%. This means that for goods sold in Horizon on a Quest VR device, Meta would take a substantial 47.5% of each transaction.

Boz argues that this percentage is lower than other “world-building platforms,” seemingly aimed in part at Roblox, which has faced criticism for its developer payment practices. Boz’s comparison suggests that Meta’s cut from purchases on Quest headsets is lower than what Roblox takes on its platform.

As Meta expands from VR to platforms like mobile and the web, it appears poised to compete directly with Roblox, and this may not be the last time we see Meta making pointed remarks about Roblox.

Meta has also frequently criticized Apple for its 30% commission on many App Store transactions, with Boz reiterating this stance in his Thursday thread. Apple responded with its own sharp language, accusing Meta of hypocrisy and asserting that Meta seeks to charge creators significantly more than any other platform while using Apple’s platform for free.