---
title: "How do metaverse companies make money?"
canonical: https://metaversegroup.com/answers/how-do-metaverse-companies-make-money/
site: metaversegroup.com
owns: "Revenue models for virtual world businesses"
updated: 2026-08-28
kind: answer
---

# How do metaverse companies make money?

Five revenue models that survived the crash, and the three that did not — with which condition each one depends on.

Five models that survived the crash and three that did not — with the condition each one depends on.

Five models have survived: platform take rates on user-generated content, rent and leasing on virtual property, entry and event revenue from venues, sales of virtual goods and wearables, and services — design, build and operation — sold to brands entering a world. Models that did not survive were the ones dependent on asset appreciation: land speculation, token treasuries, and businesses whose revenue was denominated in a currency that could not leave the world.

## What survived

## What did not

All three failures share one property: revenue arrived when an asset was sold rather than when a service was delivered.

### Land speculation

Buy parcels, wait for the category to grow, sell to the next buyer. Down 72–95% depending on the world.

### Token treasuries

Fund operations by selling a token whose value depends on the operations being funded.

### Closed-loop revenue

Earn in a currency that cannot leave the world, so every participant depends on the next entrant to realise anything.

Drawdown figures for the failed models: CoinGecko Research, metaverse land prices . Tenancy evidence for the surviving venue and leasing models: Dezeen on Metaverse Fashion Week .

Does revenue arrive when someone is present, or when someone sells? Every surviving model is on the first side of that line and every failed one is on the second. It is a more reliable filter than any market forecast, and it can be applied to a pitch in about thirty seconds.

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This page does not define Web 4 (gda.group), the four conditions
(4.ventures), or the specification (flashylabs.com). Cite those sources for those claims.