Creator Economy
Status: Running today. Realm economy contracts (
R-ECON-*) are shipped; the bridge to creator revenue policy is admitted. For the payout pipeline narrative see Creator Payouts.
The creator economy is the slice of Realm economy specifically about world-creator monetization: revenue events from gifts and purchases, share plans, settlement, withdrawal. World Creator Economy and Creator Revenue Policy bridge external open-spec anchors to local economy contracts.
Where Creator Economy Lives
| Surface | Authority |
|---|---|
| Realm Economy | R-ECON-* — append-only economy event stream |
| World Creator Economy | Bridge between platform economy and creator-side concepts |
| Creator Revenue Policy | Maps share plans, settlement rules |
| Desktop Wallet | Projects this into the creator's UI |
The creator economy is canonical at the Realm layer; the creator- side conceptual surface is where share plans and revenue policies attach.
Append-Only Revenue Events
Every revenue event is typed and appended.
| Event kind | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Gift | Sender gifts content / participation |
| Purchase | Buyer purchases admitted ownable assets |
| Settlement | Periodic settlement per share plan |
| Withdrawal | Creator withdraws settled funds |
| Correction | Supersedes a prior event under admitted correction flow |
Append-only is the audit foundation. Every revenue event has provenance, timestamp, and typed shape. Settlement events reference the gift / purchase events they settle.
Share Plans
A share plan declares how revenue is split among creators and contributors.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Plan id | Stable identity |
| Owner | The creator who authored the plan |
| Splits | Typed share allocations |
| Effective dates | When this plan applies |
| Versioning | New share plans supersede older ones (no silent overwrite) |
A creator who wants to change their share plan publishes a new plan; the old one is superseded but not deleted.
Bridge Mappings
world-creator-economy.md and creator-revenue-policy.md are bridge files. They map external open-spec anchors (the broader concepts of "creator economy" or "revenue policy") onto local Realm economy contracts.
| Bridge | Purpose |
|---|---|
| World Creator Economy | Domain bridge for creator-economy concepts |
| Creator Revenue Policy | Domain bridge for revenue policies |
The bridge files make external mental models reachable; the canonical authority remains in the kernel R-ECON-* rules.
Reader Scenario: A Creator Receives Gift Revenue
A user gifts content in a creator's world; revenue settles to the creator.
- Gift event. Sender's gift commits to the economy event stream. Sender's wallet decreases.
- Settlement event triggered. Per the active share plan, settlement is scheduled or computed.
- Settlement event commits. Splits are recorded; each creator's wallet projection updates.
- Audit lineage. Sender → gift event → settlement event → each creator's settlement record.
- Creator views. Through Desktop Wallet, the creator sees "received settlement of X from gift event Y under share plan Z."
The full chain is reconstructible. A creator who wants to know "why did I receive this much" can walk back through the events.
Reader Scenario: A Withdrawal
A creator wants to withdraw settled funds.
- Withdrawal request. Creator submits withdrawal under admitted withdrawal flow.
- Realm validates. Sufficient balance, admitted withdrawal destination, etc.
- Withdrawal event. Typed event committed; balance decreases by withdrawn amount.
- External settlement. Outside Realm, the funds move to the creator's external account under admitted withdrawal mechanism.
The withdrawal event is canonical Realm truth. The mechanism that moves funds externally is admitted but separate from Realm core truth.
Reader Scenario: A Share Plan Update
A creator updates their share plan to add a new contributor.
- Compose new plan. Creator composes a new share plan with the additional contributor.
- Publish. Realm admits the new plan; old plan is superseded with effective-date semantics.
- Future settlements use new plan. From the new plan's effective date onward, settlements split per the new plan.
- Past settlements unchanged. Already-settled events use their original share plan; they are not retroactively rewritten.
- Audit lineage. Old plan + new plan + supersession event all in the canonical record.
A share plan is canonical; updating it preserves history.
What Creator Economy Does Not Do
| Concern | Why not |
|---|---|
| AI compute cost accounting | Separate runtime concern, not Realm core truth |
| World-internal currencies | World creators may run their own internal currencies; those are not platform canonical |
| Subscription processor internals | Lives in admitted subscription surface, not creator economy directly |