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THE DYNAMICS OF OPENNESS AND CONTROL IN PLATFORM STRATEGY: A FIVE-FACTOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VIDEO GAME PLATFORMS

Katsumasa Tanaka 

Bunkyo University, Japan

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Abstract

In digital industries, platform-based business models make openness and control key strategic levers shaping innovation, ecosystems, and competitive advantage. This study examines how platform strategies shift between openness and control over time, using video game platforms as a historically leading context. Through a comparative case analysis of four platforms: Nintendo’s Family Computer, Valve’s Steam, Apple’s App Store, and the Epic Games Store, the study identifies how governance transitions are structurally shaped. The analysis is guided by a Five-Factor Framework encompassing technological, economic, institutional, competitive, and ecosystem dimensions emphasized in prior research. Findings reveal that platform governance emerges not from managerial intent alone, but from the multi-causal alignment of structural forces across these dimensions. Openness fosters distributed innovation and developer diversity, while control ensures quality, security, and monetization. Hybrid configurations such as selective openness and strategic re-control appear as adaptive responses to asymmetrical factor alignment. Building on these insights, the paper proposes the Dynamic Openness and Control Theory, which conceptualizes governance as a pendulum-like movement shaped by structural configurations. The comparative evidence demonstrates that the video game platforms pioneered governance mechanisms such as licensing, modular openness, digital distribution, and selective exclusivity from the 1980s onward, establishing precedence for similar dynamics observed in mobile operating systems, cloud infrastructures, fintech platforms, ride-hailing services, and generative AI ecosystems. This framework contributes to platform strategy and innovation management by integrating historical precedence with cross-industry applicability.

Keywords: Platform Strategy, Openness and Control, Video Game Platforms, Five-Factor Model, Comparative Analysis