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

Apple has 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, calling the decision hypocritical.

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 47.5% cut includes a 30% hardware fee on top of a 17.5% platform fee. Responding to the plan, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz told MarketWatch that Facebook is simply being hypocritical and that while it complains about Apple’s own platform fees, 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.

Zuckerberg in June 2020 said that Facebook would be making paid online events, subscriptions, badges, and other products free for creators until 2023, and after that, Meta would announce a commission that is “less than the 30% that Apple and others take.” That lower commission has not yet been announced, and at least in regards to the “metaverse,” Zuckerberg’s promise for a lower cut than Apple’s has already been broken.