Apple Says Plan for Nearly 50% Commission on Metaverse Purchases 'Lays Bare Meta's Hypocrisy'

Apple responded to Meta's plan to take a nearly 50% commission for digital asset purchases made inside the metaverse after complaining about fees in the App Store.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Meta, more commonly known as Facebook, plans to take a steep 47.5% commission for digital asset purchases made inside the so-called Metaverse.

The cut includes a hardware fee and platform fee. Fred Sainz, an Apple spokesman, told MarketWatch that Facebook is being hypocritical and that it wants to charge creators even more.

“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 spokesman Fred Sainz stated in an email 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 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.”

Facebook and the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have repeatedly called Apple's App Store and the 15% to 30% cut that it takes for in-app purchases anti-competitive and monopolistic.

Meta would announce a commission that is less than the 30% that Apple and others take after that, after Facebook made paid online events, subscriptions, badges, and other products free for creators until 2023.