Meta continues to sustain Metaverse’s development through establishing new creator funding programs on Horizon Worlds designed to reward and incentivize active users’ contributions to its advanced digital environment.

To begin with, its $10 million Horizon Worlds Creator Funding program, launched in October the previous year, is further expanded this year. Horizon Worlds is Meta’s own VR sandbox, where creators with diverse backgrounds and identities can create and test their immersive experiences. With this initiative, creators can have more means of monetizing what they’re building in the app.

The test phase for the Horizon Worlds Creator Bonus program, as the company calls it, is set to begin for participants in the US. As per Meta, “These bonuses come in the form of goal-oriented monthly programs where the creators are paid out at the end of the month for their progress toward the goal.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg further explained that this is to ‘reward the people who are doing awesome work in Horizon.’ However, these bonuses focus on specific features aligned with what the company wants to build on within the Metaverse.

Image: Meta

Aside from the bonus program, the next element added to the creator funding programs, which is the selling of virtual items and effects, is crucial for the foundation of the Metaverse.

“If you just sort of imagine some future metaverse at some point down the line, clearly the ability to sell virtual goods and to be able to take them with you from one world to another is going to be an important part of it,” as Zuckerberg mentioned during the announcement of these updates in a VR conversation with Vidyuu Studios.

But, he also highlighted in the conversation that there need to be items that people want to purchase to keep the economy going.

For starters, Meta presented as examples the selling of ‘attachable accessories for a fashion world’ or offering exclusive passes to premium or new parts of a world in Horizon.

At the moment, all 18+ Horizon Worlds users in the US and Canada can make these in-world purchases. Creators who plan on selling items and experiences will have a Commerce tab and gizmo that allows them to create buyable virtual items.

Watch the full video of the conversation between Zuckerberg and a group of Horizon Worlds creators about these new creator funding programs below.

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