Survival by “Servicisation”: A Multiple-Case Study of the Taiwanese Video Games Industry

Abstract

Around 10 years ago, the Taiwanese video games industry was faced with a series of challenges which put many of the local video game companies out of business. However, some companies managed to meet these challenges by conducting various innovative activities and successfully transforming themselves from small offline-PC-game producer (with a business model very similar to those of conventional manufacturing companies) into large complex-online-service providers. Adopting complementary lines of innovation reported in the literature as “theoretical lenses” for investigation, this case study not only finds the Taiwanese VGD industry highly innovative, but also reveals “hidden innovations” embedded in the process of “servicisation”. Throughout this radical transformation, dynamic capabilities (i.e. continuous learning, developing and upgrading core competences) are the key to success. More significantly, since the VGD industry is a creative industry, these empirical findings make a contribution to the recent scholarly effort to address the research gap in the study of highly-innovative creative industries. In addition, this case study provides valuable insights for policy makers into providing more effective support for creative industries in the near future.