Internet-enabled internationalization: a study of the online independent gaming industry

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to examine to what extent independent online game companies fit the criteria of being ‘Born Globals’, and to what degree their internationalization was by design. This was done in order to determine the effects of the Internet on internationalization for companies using it as their primary (or only) sales and marketing channel. Data: The sample used in this thesis comprised 76 qualifying companies from around the world, which were surveyed in order to gather the necessary data to meet the requirements of the research objectives. Results: The data gathered in this research indicates that the market for independent games purchased through the internet is heavily skewed towards the United States, which appears to account for approximately 70% of the demand in the market. In practice, this means that companies from other nations tend to become Born Globals by default, since most of the customers are located in the U.S. and there are little or no barriers to the American market thanks to the Internet-based nature of these firms and their customers. It was also found that while internationalization among these firms happened to a relatively high degree almost automatically, crafting and implementing internationalization strategies can result in even greater numbers of international clients, mostly located in non-Anglophone markets