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- All HBS Web
(1,949)
- People (4)
- News (561)
- Research (1,082)
- Events (10)
- Multimedia (22)
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- Article
Games of Threats
By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
A game of threats on a finite set of players, N, is a function d that assigns a real number to any coalition, S ⊆ N, such that d(S) = -d(N\S). A game of threats is not necessarily a coalitional game as it may fail to satisfy the condition d(Ø) = 0. We show that analogs... View Details
Kohlberg, Elon, and Abraham Neyman. "Games of Threats." Games and Economic Behavior 108 (March 2018): 139–145.
- October 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Epic Games
By: Andy Wu and Christopher Zhang
Epic Games entered a stagnant market with its PC-games digital storefront in 2018, in the context of incumbent competitors such as Steam, its meteoric rise via Fortnite, and imminent industry shifts in gaming distribution. On the surface, Epic Games Store’s competitive... View Details
Keywords: Industry Analysis; Video Games; Platforms; Comparative Advantage; Growth Strategy; Innovation Focused Strategy; Pricing Strategy; Strategy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Digital Platforms; Technology Industry
Wu, Andy, and Christopher Zhang. "Epic Games." Harvard Business School Case 720-380, October 2019. (Revised October 2019.)
- August 2020 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Skillz: Esports and Skill-Based Mobile Gaming
By: Andy Wu, David B. Yoffie and George Gonzalez
Founded in 2012, Skillz offered a platform for mobile app developers to monetize skill-based games via prized tournaments. Skillz had over 20,000 registered developers that had created thousands of Skillz-powered games played by over 30 million registered users... View Details
Keywords: Video Games; Mobile; Esports; Applications and Software; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; United States
Wu, Andy, David B. Yoffie, and George Gonzalez. "Skillz: Esports and Skill-Based Mobile Gaming." Harvard Business School Case 721-358, August 2020. (Revised June 2021.)
- September 2017 (Revised July 2018)
- Technical Note
Virtual Reality and the Gaming Sector 2017
By: David B. Yoffie, Natalia Prieto Nino, Prasad Raman, Brad Kowalk and Ruby Tamberino
This brief note explores the emerging possibilities of virtual reality and its potential as a gaming platform. View Details
Keywords: Virtual Reality; Gaming; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Technology Platform
Yoffie, David B., Natalia Prieto Nino, Prasad Raman, Brad Kowalk, and Ruby Tamberino. "Virtual Reality and the Gaming Sector 2017." Harvard Business School Technical Note 718-405, September 2017. (Revised July 2018.)
- 2023
- Working Paper
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing
digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to
progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details
Keywords: Freemium; Retention/churn; Field Experiment; Field Experiments; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Monetization; Monetization Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Customers; Retention; Product Design; Strategy
Ascarza, Eva, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge. "Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-062, November 2020. (Revised December 2023.)
- June 2024 (Revised March 2025)
- Case
Wemade: (Re)Establishing Trust in Blockchain Games (A)
By: Jung Koo Kang, Charles C.Y. Wang, David Allen and Kwangmoon So
This case explores the fundamental challenges and accounting issues arising from the integration of blockchain technology into traditional business models. It features Wemade, a South Korean online gaming company that has staked its future on blockchain-based games.... View Details
Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Video Games; Accounting; Financial Reporting; Revenue Recognition; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Corporate Disclosure; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Video Game Industry; Video Game Industry; Video Game Industry; South Korea
Kang, Jung Koo, Charles C.Y. Wang, David Allen, and Kwangmoon So. "Wemade: (Re)Establishing Trust in Blockchain Games (A)." Harvard Business School Case 124-025, June 2024. (Revised March 2025.)
- July 2007
- Article
A Two-Person Game of Information Transmission
By: Jerry R. Green and Nancy L. Stokey
We consider a statistical decision problem faced by a two player organization whose members may not
agree on outcome evaluations and prior probabilities. One player is specialized in gathering information
and transmitting it to the other, who takes the decision. This... View Details
Green, Jerry R., and Nancy L. Stokey. "A Two-Person Game of Information Transmission." Journal of Economic Theory 135, no. 1 (July 2007): 90–104.
- May 2012
- Article
Correlation in the Multiplayer Electronic Mail Game
By: Peter A. Coles and Ran Shorrer
In variants of the Electronic Mail Game (Rubinstein, 1989) where two or more players communicate via multiple channels, the multiple channels can facilitate collective action via redundancy, the sending of the same message along multiple paths or else repeatedly along... View Details
Keywords: Electronic Mail Game; Stag Hunt; Coordination; Signaling; Networks; Behavior; Communication; Trust; Game Theory
Coles, Peter A., and Ran Shorrer. "Correlation in the Multiplayer Electronic Mail Game." B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics 12, no. 1 (May 2012).
- December 2024
- Case
Tencent Games
By: Rebecca Karp, Billy Chan and Nancy Hua Dai
For years, Tencent Games, a division of China’s largest internet company, had taken the lion’s share of revenue in the global gaming market with blockbuster titles such as “League of Legends” and “PUBG: Battlegrounds.” These games defined the game genres that they... View Details
Keywords: Decisions; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Investment; Competitive Strategy; Video Game Industry; Europe; China
Karp, Rebecca, Billy Chan, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Tencent Games." Harvard Business School Case 725-411, December 2024.
- 2017
- Chapter
High Stakes Negotiation: Indian Gaming and Tribal/State Compacts
By: Gavin Clarkson and James K. Sebenius
Although Indian tribes and the surrounding states were often bitter enemies throughout much of the history of the United States, recently tribes and states have been able to work cooperatively in a number of areas. In some instances, Congress has mandated such... View Details
Keywords: Indian Gaming; Negotiation; Regulation; Tribal Sovereignty; Sovereign Finance; Negotiation Participants; Relationships; Cooperation; Connecticut
Clarkson, Gavin, and James K. Sebenius. "High Stakes Negotiation: Indian Gaming and Tribal/State Compacts." Chap. 8 in American Indian Business: Principles and Practices, edited by Deanna M. Kennedy, Charles Harrington, Amy Klemm Verbos, Daniel Stewart, Joseph Gladstone, and Gavin Clarkson, 130–161. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017.
- 19 Oct 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Games of Threats
- November 2006
- Background Note
Technical Game Theory Note #1: Solving Bi-matrix Games
By: Dennis A. Yao
Explains how to solve bi-matrix games and introduces the Nash Equilibrium concept. View Details
- February 2007 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Susan Saltrick
Urban Video Game Academy was founded to enhance the academic and career prospects of urban youth. How will its founder grow it into a sustainable business? Provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges of social entrepreneurship and how to create a sustainable... View Details
Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Social Enterprise; Change Management; Education; Video Game Industry; Video Game Industry
Applegate, Lynda M., and Susan Saltrick. "Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game." Harvard Business School Case 807-122, February 2007. (Revised August 2007.)
- July 2024
- Case
Google Stadia: Game On or Game Over?
By: Derek C. M. van Bever and Akshat Agrawal
This case explores Google leadership's decision to pursue its cloud gaming innovation, Google Stadia, following disappointing early uptake by premium videogamers, the segment of the market that Google had targeted. Google had invested substantial resources and time... View Details
Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Development; Leadership; Segmentation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Video Game Industry
van Bever, Derek C. M., and Akshat Agrawal. "Google Stadia: Game On or Game Over?" Harvard Business School Case 325-024, July 2024.
- April 2014
- Article
The Cost of High-Powered Incentives: Employee Gaming in Enterprise Software Sales
By: Ian Larkin
This paper investigates the pricing distortions that arise from the use of a common non-linear incentive scheme at a leading enterprise software vendor. The empirical results demonstrate that salespeople are adept at gaming the timing of deal closure to take advantage... View Details
Keywords: Incentives; Motivation; Compensation; Gaming; Sales Force Management; Motivation and Incentives; Salesforce Management; Software; Compensation and Benefits; Information Technology Industry
Larkin, Ian. "The Cost of High-Powered Incentives: Employee Gaming in Enterprise Software Sales." Journal of Labor Economics 32, no. 2 (April 2014): 199–227.
- November 2006
- Background Note
Technical Game Theory Note #6: Multiple-Round Games and Reputations
By: Dennis A. Yao
Provides a game theory-based interpretation of reputations and reputation building. View Details
- 2017
- Working Paper
Cooperative Strategic Games
By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
We examine a solution concept, called the “value," for n-person strategic games. In applications, the value provides an a-priori assessment of the monetary worth of a player's position in a strategic game, comprising not only the player's contribution to the total... View Details
Keywords: Game Theory
Kohlberg, Elon, and Abraham Neyman. "Cooperative Strategic Games." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-075, February 2017.
- September 2019 (Revised June 2020)
- Case
Othellonia: Growing a Mobile Game
In the summer of 2019, Yu Sasaki, Head of the Game Division of DeNA, a Japanese mobile gaming company, is evaluating various growth strategies for its recent game Othellonia. Sasaki needs to decide if he should focus on customer acquisition, retention, or monetization. View Details
Keywords: Targeting; Retention/churn; Freemium; Monetization; Customer Relationship Management; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Customers; Marketing Strategy; Retention; Acquisition; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Japan
Ascarza, Eva, Tomomichi Amano, and Sunil Gupta. "Othellonia: Growing a Mobile Game." Harvard Business School Case 520-016, September 2019. (Revised June 2020.)
- Article
Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing
By: Michael I. Norton and Samuel R. Sommers
Although some have heralded recent political and cultural developments as signaling the arrival of a post-racial era in America, several legal and social controversies regarding "reverse racism" highlight Whites' increasing concern about anti-White bias. We show that... View Details
Keywords: Racism; Zero-sum Game; Bias; Affirmative Action; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Social Issues; United States
Norton, Michael I., and Samuel R. Sommers. "Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing." Perspectives on Psychological Science 6, no. 3 (May 2011): 215–218.
- 2014
- Working Paper
The NTU-Value of Stochastic Games
By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
Since the seminal paper of Shapley, the theory of stochastic games has been developed in many different directions. However, there has been practically no work on the interplay between stochastic games and cooperative game theory. Our purpose here is to make a first... View Details
Kohlberg, Elon, and Abraham Neyman. "The NTU-Value of Stochastic Games." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-014, September 2014.