Facebook owner Meta Platforms to test sale of virtual goods

Meta Platforms (FB) said on Monday that it will soon start testing tools to sell digital assets and experiences inside its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds. This move is an important part of the company's plan to create a metaverse.

Meta said in a statement, "The tools will be available initially to an hand-picked set of users who are creating virtual classes, games and fashion accessories within the company's immersive platform, which is accessible via VR headsets."

With the help of one tool, the handpicked users can sell their accessories or propose paid access to the customized digital spaces created by them.

Meta Platforms is also testing out a "creator bonus" program for a select group of Horizon Worlds users in the US, through which it will pay participants on a monthly basis for using all the new features the company debuts.

While discussing with early adopters, present inside Horizon Worlds as avatars, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "We want there to just be tons of awesome worlds, and in order for that to happen there needs to be a lot of creators who can support themselves and make this their job."

Meta Platforms has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality to showcase its new interest in the metaverse, which is a futuristic idea of a network of virtual environments accessible through different devices where users can work, socialize and play.

The company is fighting against future virtual world players where land, buildings, avatars and even names can be bought and sold as non-fungible tokens, or blockchain-based virtual assets. The market for these assets exploded last year, with sales going into something like hundreds of thousands of dollars.(DPA)