Game console manufacturers : the end of sustainable competitive advantage ?

International audienceThe video games industry has been subject to a number of significant transitions in its short history. The current transition, however, has the potential to restructure more fundamentally the technological, competitive and market dynamics with a growing share of revenues attributed to non-console linked video games. Existing players from the "traditional" video games market are not standing idly by as the market evolves. What is unclear, however, is whether the competitive advantages they have built up over previous generations of video games will be sustainable in the new landscape. Ironically, it may be argued that existing competitive advantages could restrict their ability to adapt to the new dynamics. By proposing two alternative scenarios for future development, we examine the implications of either maintaining competitive advantage or developing temporary advantages. The video games industry is judged to be an ideal laboratory in which to investigate the consequences of hypercompetition and for developing strategic management insight into sustainable competitive advantage in such a context