"A Comparison of Development Strategies in Video Game Softwares: Internal Development Strategy and External Development Strategy"(in Japanese)

Internal Development Strategy and External Development Strategy are observed in Japanese video game software industries. These two contrastive strategies are characterized by such systems as employment, training, and outsourcing. Firms pursuing Internal Development strategies establish a set of human resource management system which enable the efficient accumulation of knowhow for developing game software. Firms pursuing External Development Strategy recognize that knowhow for developing game software attribute not to the organization but to the personal capabilities. They focus on utilizing the human resource outside firms to incorporate a variety of personal skills. Based on our empirical study using sales and firm data, either of two strategies do not dominate another one overall but each strategy is fitted for each specific game categories. Our study shows that the firms with Internal Development Strategy acquire bigger sales and higher hit rate in the knowhow intensive game categories.