Beginning sometime in Q4 2025, we will be introducing several updates to how royalties and payouts work on IMVU for Creators in the Earn Money Program. We know changes to earnings can have a real impact, which is why we want to share the details clearly and in advance. These updates are intended to make royalty distribution more consistent, address certain types of abuse, and keep our systems fair and sustainable for the long term.
Hard Cap on Royalty Payouts
We are introducing a 20% royalty cap that applies to all products in the catalog. This cap applies to both derived and original products, ensuring that the cumulative amount paid out to all Creators in a single derivation chain does not exceed 20% of the Catalog Price for a single sale.
This change is designed to support a healthier Creator economy and improve catalog consistency. Currently, some derived products are priced with extremely high markups, resulting in disproportionately large royalties even when only minor or superficial changes have been made. By introducing this cap, we’re creating a more balanced system that rewards creativity while reducing the incentive for zero-change derivations intended solely to maximize profit.
The 20% cap also helps ensure that royalty payouts remain predictable and equitable across the board, promoting sustainability and fairness for all Creators. While Creators who have relied on high markups may see reduced earnings, this update reinforces a shared standard that benefits the overall ecosystem by encouraging quality, originality, and fair pricing practices.
50:50 Credits/Predits Split We are standardizing royalties for mixed-purchase products so that Credits and Predits are distributed evenly across all Creators in the derivation chain.
When a product is purchased using a combination of Credits and Predits, Creators later in the derivation chain often receive their royalties in Credits, while those earlier in the chain, including the original Mesh Creator, receive more of their royalties in Predits.
With this update, the mix of Credits and Predits will be split evenly among everyone in the chain. This change is intended to benefit Creators earlier in the chain and may reduce the amount of Credits received by Creators who derive further along.
Sticker Royalties Discontinued We are discontinuing Sticker royalties to help prevent fraudulent activity. Most Sticker sales that result in Earn Money Program withdrawal requests are linked to activities such as begging, scamming, using alternate accounts to cash out, and other policy violations.
Stickers can still be created and sold for Credits, but they will no longer generate royalties for withdrawal through the Earn Money Program.
Tiered VIP Payout Changes We are updating VIP payout timelines and options for Creators in the Earn Money Program. Business days exclude weekends and U.S. holidays.
Emerald VIP Emerald Creators can withdraw up to their MASA plus an extra 10%, capped at 100 dollars, when their royalty balance exceeds their MASA. They can also request expedited payouts that arrive in 1 to 3 business days for a 2% processing fee. In addition, they can use their royalty balance to pay for Emerald VIP when their balance is below 99 dollars.
Diamond VIP Diamond Creators can withdraw up to their MASA plus an extra 3%, capped at 50 dollars, when their royalty balance exceeds their MASA. They can also request expedited payouts that arrive in 2 to 4 business days for a 5% processing fee.
Platinum VIP Standard payouts for all VIP tiers will now be completed within 5 to 7 business days, with expedited options available for Emerald and Diamond Creators. This change aligns the standard timeline with typical banking and compliance processing so payout timing remains predictable during higher-volume periods
.
We will be monitoring the impact of these updates closely and remain committed to listening to Creator feedback. Your input is an important part of shaping how our systems evolve, and we will use what we hear from the community to guide future improvements and adjustments. Our goal is to ensure the Creator experience continues to grow in ways that are fair, sustainable, and supportive of the work you do.
Update: Please read this update from the CEO.
Royalty Cap Update: Paused and Under Review
Hello, everyone. My name is Rod Chang, CEO of Together Labs, IMVU's parent company. Earlier this week we announced a plan to implement a 20% cap on royalty payouts. The way we shared it made it sound like this was set in stone—and that wasn’t the case. That’s on us, and I want to be clear: we have hit the pause button on the royalty cap to listen to your input.
Our intent was to share the plan early to gather feedback, and we recognize that the way it was communicated left many Creators feeling they did not have a say. I acknowledge that concern and appreciate the candid, detailed feedback you have shared about fairness, incentives, collaboration, and unintended impact across product categories.
Our aim is to address zero-change derivations, extreme markups, and improve pricing consistency while supporting originality.
Your feedback makes clear that the approach we outlined could adversely affect Creators and the freedom with which you choose to create and price your work. As a result, the 20% royalty cap is on hold while we reevaluate solutions, guided by Creator feedback.
We want every Creator to have a voice. Please continue to share specific ideas in this thread and on Discord, including practical approaches to address the underlying concerns. Our commitment is to ensure the royalty program is fair, predictable, and transparent for Creators.
IMVU succeeds when its Creators succeed. Thank you for your passion, your honesty, and your commitment to making IMVU better every day.
Thank you,
Rod
4 Votes
44 Comments
Sorted by
S
Sueth1posted
3 months ago
resolvam os problemas antes de criar mais
3 Votes
S
Sueth1posted
3 months ago
resolvam os problemas antes de criar mais
4 Votes
F
FlexFactorposted
3 months ago
big no on the royalty cap. ZCD's, while they are an issue, shouldnt be discouraged via creator side. instead, dev chain visibility on mobile/next platforms, as well as implementing a "dev chain limit" that a mesher can set would be far more effective. this gives more power to user decision.
what this platform needs, is to keep their head down and work on enhancing technical features, like multiple wishlists, recommended lists, or other things to reduce shop friction to make customer spending easier. because really, creators and imvu are aligned with the goal to make people buy credits. so this move feels like a backstab. this particularly hurts because the wording is made to seem like its for our benefit, when the math is against us.
16 Votes
X
Xiucoposted
3 months ago
Couldn’t this change have targeted only high-priced ZCDs instead?
For example, the system could be updated so that when a product is submitted with no edits and an unusually high royalty, a 20% cap is automatically applied...
Of course, this wouldn’t fully resolve the issue IMVU is raising—products with minimal or superficial changes that receive disproportionately high payouts. However, it would at least address the issue of overpriced ZCDs, which seems to be at the heart of the problem.
I don’t believe it’s fair that carefully crafted, original products—those built through days of effort and creative struggle—end up being penalized under the same rule.
IMVU’s stated goal and the proposed solution seem fundamentally misaligned.
14 Votes
Aonposted
3 months ago
Dear IMVU Team,
While I understand the intention behind the new 20% royalty cap, I believe Creators should retain the right to set the prices of our own products. We are the ones investing our time, skills, and creativity, and only we truly know the value of our work.
It’s important to note that we already face significant limits:
A $500/month payout cap,
A 30% fee when cashing out,
And now, a 20% hard cap on royalties.
Together, these restrictions create a triple handicap that discourages originality and makes it harder for serious Creators to sustain their efforts. If the concern is extreme markups or low-effort derivations, more balanced solutions could target those specific cases instead of penalizing everyone.
A flat royalty limit removes our ability to reflect the true value of our creations and risks weakening the Creator economy by reducing motivation, innovation, and catalog diversity.
Respectfully,
Aon
26 Votes
Alirrasposted
3 months ago
The first and last thing Imma say is:
Who thought of this joke of a idea? Take that thought and shred is and FOREVER FORGET ABOUT IT.
You put any CAP on anything with our FUNDS (Credits or Money) turns to Creators Leaving, then turns to Non Creators; Our supportive supporters will see a decrease of catalog items that would eventually be low quality and over shares since Creators have left, turns into Supporters leaving as well, due to the Shop being "dead and nothing new", turns into IMVU losing about 98% of their profit from: Credits Sale, Additional Add Ons Sales, Bundle Sales, Influencers on Social Media Promoting IMVU Next but No IMVU Classic, then turns into IMVU Shutting Down
I pay my BILLS with my IMVU earn money program, you are messing with my income and with that being said, you won't be seeing my income of my: ORIGINAL VIP OF 9.99 if goes into effect
16 Votes
M
MsPixeliciousposted
3 months ago
youre not going to ignore everyone on this issue are you??..the discussion boards might be pretty much useless but you must know about the sheer VOLUME of comments being made on discord right now!
16 Votes
K
Kaxmposted
3 months ago
If THIS takes affect, I can definitely tell that IMVU will be no more. No more Creating, People will be losing money over this, People can't pay their bills BECAUSE OF THIS. I honestly hope this doesn't take affect.
18 Votes
M
Manillaposted
3 months ago
According to this new rule our incomes will drop with about 60% (where I made 150cr profit before, I'll now make 64cr)
If you're making 1000 USD a month now, after this change you'll be making about 400 USD.
That's what the new rule says, right? I hope I've misunderstood it. I thought we'd reached the absolute point of insanity when MASA was introduced but this is much worse. I can't pay my bills anymore if only 40% of my income is left, I'm already struggling as is. Please tell me I've missed something.
20 Votes
K
Kvmmiposted
3 months ago
This isn’t fair to those who keep their prices at a fair cost point…
I feel like you all should rework this before implementing, please reconsider.
15 Votes
2
2tonposted
3 months ago
Je ne pense pas qu'une décision pareil soit une bonne idée vis a vis d'imv, vraiment pas .
4 Votes
M
MsPixeliciousposted
3 months ago
i apologise for my ignorance but maths never was my forte but could someone please explain in very simple terms what do you mean when you say :
introducing a 20% royalty cap that applies to all products in the catalog. This cap applies to both derived and original products
i cant really get my head around the starting point for your 'original price threshold' ..but whatever it IS, it sounds very much like a stranglehold over a creators earning potential and has NO real means of benefitting anyone in the long run!
7 Votes
C
Chocolatposted
3 months ago
The system already self-regulates: products with excessively high prices rarely sell and never reach the front pages. Users naturally penalize overpriced items.
If this system continues to disproportionately reduce earnings for honest creators, many of IMVU’s top creators may start considering other platforms where their work is fairly rewarded. Losing these creators could significantly impact the quality and diversity of the catalog, which ultimately affects the entire community.
IMVU, please reconsider this. Decisions like this could destroy the platform.
21 Votes
C
Chocolatposted
3 months ago
Hello,
I want to point out an important effect of the new 20% royalty limit.
Real example:
X1 creates a mesh from scratch, adds 100 credits of profit → product price 444.
X2 derives the mesh, adds 100 credits → final product price 598.
If a user buys the product for 598 real credits, each creator receives only 59.8 credits, far less than expected, even though no one is abusing the system.
The higher the final product price rises due to derivations, the more the original creator’s royalty is diluted. Even if they did all the initial work, they can end up with only a tiny fraction of what they expected.
The result: honest creators lose a large portion of their earnings, while IMVU keeps most of the price. This limit may encourage price increases to compensate and directly affects those who have always worked with fair pricing.
I suggest considering an adjustment that protects the original creator and honest creators, without eliminating the intention of preventing abuse.
Beginning sometime in Q4 2025, we will be introducing several updates to how royalties and payouts work on IMVU for Creators in the Earn Money Program. We know changes to earnings can have a real impact, which is why we want to share the details clearly and in advance. These updates are intended to make royalty distribution more consistent, address certain types of abuse, and keep our systems fair and sustainable for the long term.
Hard Cap on Royalty Payouts
We are introducing a 20% royalty cap that applies to all products in the catalog. This cap applies to both derived and original products, ensuring that the cumulative amount paid out to all Creators in a single derivation chain does not exceed 20% of the Catalog Price for a single sale.
This change is designed to support a healthier Creator economy and improve catalog consistency. Currently, some derived products are priced with extremely high markups, resulting in disproportionately large royalties even when only minor or superficial changes have been made. By introducing this cap, we’re creating a more balanced system that rewards creativity while reducing the incentive for zero-change derivations intended solely to maximize profit.
The 20% cap also helps ensure that royalty payouts remain predictable and equitable across the board, promoting sustainability and fairness for all Creators. While Creators who have relied on high markups may see reduced earnings, this update reinforces a shared standard that benefits the overall ecosystem by encouraging quality, originality, and fair pricing practices.
50:50 Credits/Predits Split
We are standardizing royalties for mixed-purchase products so that Credits and Predits are distributed evenly across all Creators in the derivation chain.
When a product is purchased using a combination of Credits and Predits, Creators later in the derivation chain often receive their royalties in Credits, while those earlier in the chain, including the original Mesh Creator, receive more of their royalties in Predits.
With this update, the mix of Credits and Predits will be split evenly among everyone in the chain. This change is intended to benefit Creators earlier in the chain and may reduce the amount of Credits received by Creators who derive further along.
Sticker Royalties Discontinued
We are discontinuing Sticker royalties to help prevent fraudulent activity. Most Sticker sales that result in Earn Money Program withdrawal requests are linked to activities such as begging, scamming, using alternate accounts to cash out, and other policy violations.
Stickers can still be created and sold for Credits, but they will no longer generate royalties for withdrawal through the Earn Money Program.
Tiered VIP Payout Changes
We are updating VIP payout timelines and options for Creators in the Earn Money Program. Business days exclude weekends and U.S. holidays.
Emerald VIP
Emerald Creators can withdraw up to their MASA plus an extra 10%, capped at 100 dollars, when their royalty balance exceeds their MASA. They can also request expedited payouts that arrive in 1 to 3 business days for a 2% processing fee. In addition, they can use their royalty balance to pay for Emerald VIP when their balance is below 99 dollars.
Diamond VIP
Diamond Creators can withdraw up to their MASA plus an extra 3%, capped at 50 dollars, when their royalty balance exceeds their MASA. They can also request expedited payouts that arrive in 2 to 4 business days for a 5% processing fee.
Platinum VIP
Standard payouts for all VIP tiers will now be completed within 5 to 7 business days, with expedited options available for Emerald and Diamond Creators. This change aligns the standard timeline with typical banking and compliance processing so payout timing remains predictable during higher-volume periods
.
We will be monitoring the impact of these updates closely and remain committed to listening to Creator feedback. Your input is an important part of shaping how our systems evolve, and we will use what we hear from the community to guide future improvements and adjustments. Our goal is to ensure the Creator experience continues to grow in ways that are fair, sustainable, and supportive of the work you do.
Update: Please read this update from the CEO.
Royalty Cap Update: Paused and Under Review
Hello, everyone. My name is Rod Chang, CEO of Together Labs, IMVU's parent company. Earlier this week we announced a plan to implement a 20% cap on royalty payouts. The way we shared it made it sound like this was set in stone—and that wasn’t the case. That’s on us, and I want to be clear: we have hit the pause button on the royalty cap to listen to your input.
Our intent was to share the plan early to gather feedback, and we recognize that the way it was communicated left many Creators feeling they did not have a say. I acknowledge that concern and appreciate the candid, detailed feedback you have shared about fairness, incentives, collaboration, and unintended impact across product categories.
Our aim is to address zero-change derivations, extreme markups, and improve pricing consistency while supporting originality.
Your feedback makes clear that the approach we outlined could adversely affect Creators and the freedom with which you choose to create and price your work. As a result, the 20% royalty cap is on hold while we reevaluate solutions, guided by Creator feedback.
We want every Creator to have a voice. Please continue to share specific ideas in this thread and on Discord, including practical approaches to address the underlying concerns. Our commitment is to ensure the royalty program is fair, predictable, and transparent for Creators.
IMVU succeeds when its Creators succeed. Thank you for your passion, your honesty, and your commitment to making IMVU better every day.
Thank you,
Rod
4 Votes
44 Comments
Sueth1 posted 3 months ago
resolvam os problemas antes de criar mais
3 Votes
Sueth1 posted 3 months ago
resolvam os problemas antes de criar mais
4 Votes
FlexFactor posted 3 months ago
big no on the royalty cap. ZCD's, while they are an issue, shouldnt be discouraged via creator side. instead, dev chain visibility on mobile/next platforms, as well as implementing a "dev chain limit" that a mesher can set would be far more effective. this gives more power to user decision.
what this platform needs, is to keep their head down and work on enhancing technical features, like multiple wishlists, recommended lists, or other things to reduce shop friction to make customer spending easier. because really, creators and imvu are aligned with the goal to make people buy credits. so this move feels like a backstab. this particularly hurts because the wording is made to seem like its for our benefit, when the math is against us.
16 Votes
Xiuco posted 3 months ago
Couldn’t this change have targeted only high-priced ZCDs instead?
For example, the system could be updated so that when a product is submitted with no edits and an unusually high royalty, a 20% cap is automatically applied...
Of course, this wouldn’t fully resolve the issue IMVU is raising—products with minimal or superficial changes that receive disproportionately high payouts. However, it would at least address the issue of overpriced ZCDs, which seems to be at the heart of the problem.
I don’t believe it’s fair that carefully crafted, original products—those built through days of effort and creative struggle—end up being penalized under the same rule.
IMVU’s stated goal and the proposed solution seem fundamentally misaligned.
14 Votes
Aon posted 3 months ago
Dear IMVU Team,
While I understand the intention behind the new 20% royalty cap, I believe Creators should retain the right to set the prices of our own products. We are the ones investing our time, skills, and creativity, and only we truly know the value of our work.
It’s important to note that we already face significant limits:
A $500/month payout cap,
A 30% fee when cashing out,
And now, a 20% hard cap on royalties.
Together, these restrictions create a triple handicap that discourages originality and makes it harder for serious Creators to sustain their efforts. If the concern is extreme markups or low-effort derivations, more balanced solutions could target those specific cases instead of penalizing everyone.
A flat royalty limit removes our ability to reflect the true value of our creations and risks weakening the Creator economy by reducing motivation, innovation, and catalog diversity.
Respectfully,
Aon
26 Votes
Alirras posted 3 months ago
The first and last thing Imma say is:
Who thought of this joke of a idea? Take that thought and shred is and FOREVER FORGET ABOUT IT.
You put any CAP on anything with our FUNDS (Credits or Money) turns to Creators Leaving, then turns to Non Creators; Our supportive supporters will see a decrease of catalog items that would eventually be low quality and over shares since Creators have left, turns into Supporters leaving as well, due to the Shop being "dead and nothing new", turns into IMVU losing about 98% of their profit from: Credits Sale, Additional Add Ons Sales, Bundle Sales, Influencers on Social Media Promoting IMVU Next but No IMVU Classic, then turns into IMVU Shutting Down
I pay my BILLS with my IMVU earn money program, you are messing with my income and with that being said, you won't be seeing my income of my: ORIGINAL VIP OF 9.99 if goes into effect
16 Votes
MsPixelicious posted 3 months ago
youre not going to ignore everyone on this issue are you??..the discussion boards might be pretty much useless but you must know about the sheer VOLUME of comments being made on discord right now!
16 Votes
Kaxm posted 3 months ago
If THIS takes affect, I can definitely tell that IMVU will be no more. No more Creating, People will be losing money over this, People can't pay their bills BECAUSE OF THIS. I honestly hope this doesn't take affect.
18 Votes
Manilla posted 3 months ago
According to this new rule our incomes will drop with about 60% (where I made 150cr profit before, I'll now make 64cr)
If you're making 1000 USD a month now, after this change you'll be making about 400 USD.
That's what the new rule says, right? I hope I've misunderstood it. I thought we'd reached the absolute point of insanity when MASA was introduced but this is much worse. I can't pay my bills anymore if only 40% of my income is left, I'm already struggling as is. Please tell me I've missed something.
20 Votes
Kvmmi posted 3 months ago
This isn’t fair to those who keep their prices at a fair cost point…
I feel like you all should rework this before implementing, please reconsider.
15 Votes
2ton posted 3 months ago
Je ne pense pas qu'une décision pareil soit une bonne idée vis a vis d'imv, vraiment pas .
4 Votes
MsPixelicious posted 3 months ago
i apologise for my ignorance but maths never was my forte but could someone please explain in very simple terms what do you mean when you say :
introducing a 20% royalty cap that applies to all products in the catalog. This cap applies to both derived and original products
i cant really get my head around the starting point for your 'original price threshold' ..but whatever it IS, it sounds very much like a stranglehold over a creators earning potential and has NO real means of benefitting anyone in the long run!
7 Votes
Chocolat posted 3 months ago
The system already self-regulates: products with excessively high prices rarely sell and never reach the front pages. Users naturally penalize overpriced items.
If this system continues to disproportionately reduce earnings for honest creators, many of IMVU’s top creators may start considering other platforms where their work is fairly rewarded. Losing these creators could significantly impact the quality and diversity of the catalog, which ultimately affects the entire community.
IMVU, please reconsider this. Decisions like this could destroy the platform.
21 Votes
Chocolat posted 3 months ago
Hello,
I want to point out an important effect of the new 20% royalty limit.
Real example:
X1 creates a mesh from scratch, adds 100 credits of profit → product price 444.
X2 derives the mesh, adds 100 credits → final product price 598.
If a user buys the product for 598 real credits, each creator receives only 59.8 credits, far less than expected, even though no one is abusing the system.
The higher the final product price rises due to derivations, the more the original creator’s royalty is diluted. Even if they did all the initial work, they can end up with only a tiny fraction of what they expected.
The result: honest creators lose a large portion of their earnings, while IMVU keeps most of the price. This limit may encourage price increases to compensate and directly affects those who have always worked with fair pricing.
I suggest considering an adjustment that protects the original creator and honest creators, without eliminating the intention of preventing abuse.
20 Votes
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