As the company loses $10 billion in the virtual reality market, Meta is experimenting with a new digital economy in Horizon Worlds.

Meta's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, disclosed that the business is experimenting with monetization for the Horizon Worlds virtual reality app in order to allow developers to earn money.

While the new virtual reality game is now only available to a small number of creators, it is an important step forward in the company's long-term plan of establishing the foundation for virtual social networking.

In a blog post published Tuesday, the business explained:

"Entrepreneurs and innovators will have more flexibility in developing a company plan that suits them. As a result, we're pleased to take this step today, building on the $10 million Horizon Creators Fund we launched last October."

[Only For A Handful Of People]

A "limited number" of producers will be able to sell "virtual items and effects" in their own worlds, according to Meta. Only anyone above the age of 18 from the United States and Canada will be able to purchase those items.

Unlike other virtual reality (VR) games in the metaverse, Zuckerberg's Horizon Worlds is not based on blockchain or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), both of which have been criticized by certain game developers and gamers.

[Popularity Comes With A Bonus]

Separately, Meta announced that it would award monthly bonuses to authors whose virtual worlds are particularly popular with users. There will be no costs associated with this service; nonetheless, numerous news outlets stated that Meta might grab anywhere from a quarter to 70% of the virtual goods market.

During a conversation with Vidyuu Studios, which was moderated by Alex Chandler, the developer of Horizon Worlds, Zuckerberg discussed the news.

Zuckerberg discussed how they want to use these capabilities to earn revenue in Horizon Worlds, as well as what the metaverse economy might look like in the future.

"If you imagine a conceivable metaverse in the future, the ability to exchange virtual commodities and move them between realms will undoubtedly be a key component." "However, in order to get the economy rolling, there must first be things that people want to buy," Zuckerberg added.

[Meta has suffered a significant setback.]

The corporation that used to be known as Facebook has gone to tremendous lengths to advertise its latest virtual venture.

It costs an arm and a leg to build the metaverse. While sales of the business's flagship Quest headgear soared around the holidays, the virtual reality industry cost the corporation more than $10 billion in 2021 alone.

Meta will also need to learn how to protect virtual reality communities as social platforms like Horizon Worlds grow in popularity, which is no easy task.

Meta's recent initiatives show that the infrastructure required for a digital economy is still in its early stages. More monetization and incentivization capabilities are on the way, according to the company.