Publications

January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Glass Egg Digital Media

Glass Egg is an outsource games development firm in Vietnam. They are able to offer brand-name publishers-Microsoft EA, Atari-significant cost savings in the development of art assets for their video games. However, the firm's management find themselves at a point at... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Supercell 2.0: Clash of Plans

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and George Gonzalez

Founded in 2010, Supercell was a Helsinki, Finland-based mobile gaming company that had developed and launched five global hit mobile games: Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Hay Day, Brawl Stars, and Boom Beach. The company’s early philosophy was that it could produce... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Restructuring; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Video Game Industry; Finland

15 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Why TikTok Is Beating YouTube for Eyeball Time (It’s Not Just the Dance Videos)

At the end of June 2022, a video was posted on TikTok with the theme, “I know Victoria’s secret.” The secret was that Victoria was “an old man who lives in Ohio making money off of girls like me cashing in on body issues.” The song was... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

June 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Pokemon: Gotta Catch 'Em All (Abridged)

By: Youngme E. Moon

Pokemon, the colloquial name given to a collection of 150 fantastic, animal-inspired creatures with organic powers and the capacity to evolve, are the stars of video games, trading card games, and TV cartoons. Conceived in Japan in 1996, Pokemon quickly became that... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Age; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Copyright; Video Game Industry; Video Game Industry; Japan; Asia; United States

November 2000 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Pokemon: Gotta Catch 'Em All

Pokemon, the colloquial name given to a collection of 150 fantastic, animal-inspired creatures with organic powers and the capacity to evolve, are the stars of video games, trading card games, and TV cartoons. Conceived in Japan in 1996, Pokemon quickly became that... View Details

Keywords: Age; Entertainment; Ethics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Japan; United States

October 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Emotiv Systems Inc.: It's the Thoughts that Count

By: Elie Ofek, Jason Riis and Paul Hamilton

Emotiv is getting ready to launch its innovative brain-computer interfacing (BCI) technology. The company has developed a special headset, called EPOC, and highly sophisticated software that can translate a person's emotions, cognitive thoughts, and facial expressions... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Sales; Technological Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Launch; Business Startups; Technology Industry

26 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Where will Pokémon Go with Your Personal Information?

all time. Data analytics firm Similar Web reported that in its first week alone, the app had been installed on nearly 11 percent of all Android phones in the United States, and surpassed Twitter’s daily usage shortly thereafter. Pokémon Go is a View Details

Keywords: Re: Willy C. Shih; Video Game; Video Game

10 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 10, 2008

note examines the relationship between video gaming devices (console, handhelds, mobile and PC) and gaming software development. The impact of broadband, wireless technologies... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2000 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Stainless Steel Studios, Inc.

Stainless Steel Studios is the latest entrepreneurial venture of renowned computer game designer Rick Goodman. Goodman must now decide the role of customer feedback in crafting the next generation of computer games. This case addresses how operations systems can be... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Video Game Industry

September 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Electronic Arts: The Blockbuster Strategy

Describes the process that the firm employs to allocate resources to new product development projects. Examines whether the firm can sustain its competitive advantage given its existing game design process. View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Competitive Advantage; Decision Making; Product Development; Video Game Industry

June 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Teaching Note

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Teaching Note

By: Feng Zhu

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-092. Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides—consumers and those providing applications or services—need access... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Customer Acquisition; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Management Skills

December 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Curt Schilling's Next Pitch

By: Noam T. Wasserman, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Rachel Gordon

As his major-league pitching career was starting to wind down in 2006, baseball all-star Curt Schilling decided to become an entrepreneur. Looking to focus his tenacity and his passion for online role-playing games on a new challenge, he founded an online gaming... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Groups and Teams; Video Game Industry

June 2023
Exercise

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Instructions

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategies; Technology Platform; Customer Acquisition; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Strategy

10 May 2018
Cold Call Podcast

'Candy Crush' Was a Blockbuster; Can King Digital Capitalize?

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey F. Rayport; Video Game; Video Game

29 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Super Bowl Ads for Multitaskers

with beautiful pictures, upbeat music, or dramatic lighting. Finally, emotion-focused ads do this by appealing to consumers' emotional attachment to the brand by personally connecting the product to how it will fit into their lives. (See View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising; Sports

September 2020 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Hot Wheels: Launching The Mixed Play Experience

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., had developed an entirely new “mixed play” product experience that blended familiar Hot Wheels play in the physical world with breakthrough play in... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Go-to-market Strategy; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Decision Making; Marketing; Strategy; Los Angeles

Research Summary

Dynamic Demand Estimation in Platform and Two-Sided Markets

This paper develops techniques to structurally estimate consumer demand in general platform-intermediated and two-sided markets. By estimating both sides of the market simultaneously, the methodology presented here is able to (1) endogenize the utility of a platform as... View Details

November–December 2013
Article

The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy

By: Timothy Derdenger and Vineet Kumar

Several key questions in bundling have not been empirically examined: Is mixed bundling more effective than pure bundling or pure components? Does correlation in consumer valuations make bundling more or less effective? Does bundling serve as a complement or substitute... View Details

Keywords: Product Strategy; Bundling; Complementary Goods; Marketing; Strategy; Video Game Industry

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2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Competitive Strategies Marketing Reading

By: Jill Avery and Sunil Gupta

Core Curriculum Readings in Marketing cover the fundamental concepts, theories, and frameworks that business students must study.
This Reading illuminates the dynamics of companies in competition and offers a process for planning and executing marketing... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy