Title: A shift in inter-firm relationships towards sustainability in the Japanese video game industry

Authors: Kenichi Ohkita

Addresses: Graduate School of Management, Kagawa University, 2-1 Saiwai-cho, Takamatsu, Kagawa, 760-8523, Japan

Abstract: This paper describes and discusses the steps by which the Japanese home video game market underwent a major shift in inter-firm relationships. Stylised facts of exhibitions led by platform providers transitioning to a more coopetitive dynamic with cooperative advertising led by competing software firms illustrate that shift. This paper finds that underlying changes in hardware technology, software release behaviour, and a joint association are the main factors in this shift.

Keywords: cooperative advertising; coopetition; inter-firm relationships; complementary firms; Japan; video games industry; sustainability; hardware technology; software release behaviour; joint association.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2017.084999

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2017 Vol.13 No.4, pp.441 - 449

Received: 30 Nov 2015
Accepted: 30 Nov 2015
Published online: 10 Jul 2017 *

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