Many developers -- both indie and big corporations -- continue to criticize Apple's 15-30% commission fee on App Store purchases. For example, Spotify launched a campaign a while back just to pressure the Cupertino tech giant into giving in. Other names include Meta -- Facebook's parent company. Its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly called Apple's practices monopolistic and anti-competitive. In a surprising turn of events, though, Meta revealed yesterday that it plans to charge a whopping 47.5% commission fee on digital purchases made in its Metaverse. Apple has now called out Meta, highlighting the hypocrisy in its actions.

In an email to MarketWatch, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz stated:

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. 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.

Meta's decision to charge this high fee only shows that the company has been battling Apple for its own interests. It was never about those of small businesses and creators. Back in June, Zuckerberg himself ironically posted on Facebook how the company is going to keep paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges, and upcoming independent news products free for creators until 2023. He additionally promised to keep the commission fee lower than Apple's 30% -- once the company eventually starts charging its users. With the Metaverse's high commission fee now surfacing, it'll be interesting to see whether Facebook will keep its June promise or not.

Do you plan on making digital purchases in the Metaverse? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: MarketWatch

Via: MacRumors