The Platform Paradox: Why Your Best Partners Might Be the First to Join a Rival
Imagine you are the leader of a dominant digital ecosystem. Conventional wisdom says your partners—the “complementors” who provide the products that make your platform valuable—will stay loyal to your massive user base[cite: 21, 133]. But a rival’s entry fundamentally reshapes the psychology of these partners[cite: 18, 165].
Managerial Summary
A rival’s entry is a “double-edged sword”[cite: 134, 159]. While it threatens the network benefits of a unified user base, it offers a “Great Escape” for partners suffocating under the weight of intense competition within the incumbent’s ecosystem[cite: 17, 71].
The Research
Researchers analyzed the 2018 launch of the Epic Games Store (EGS) as it challenged Steam[cite: 96, 261]. By tracking over 11,000 products, the study identified how “Indie” developers (resource-poor) and “Multiplayer” developers (network-dependent) diverged in their loyalty[cite: 18, 401, 465].
Key Findings
Finding 1
The Resource Gap Drives Defection: Partners with fewer strategic resources are significantly more likely to join a new rival[cite: 19, 99]. In crowded marketplaces, these “Indie” types struggle for visibility; a new platform offers a less crowded “shelf” where they can finally be seen[cite: 100, 224].
Finding 2
The Network Effect Trap: Conversely, partners whose products rely on users interacting with one another (like Multiplayer games) are less likely to join a rival[cite: 20, 101]. For them, a fragmented user base kills the product’s value, keeping them anchored to the incumbent[cite: 101, 247].
Finding 3
Orchestration Under Pressure: When a rival enters, resource-poor partners become less responsive to the incumbent’s collective initiatives, such as platform-wide sales[cite: 19, 103]. Meanwhile, network-dependent partners actually become more cooperative, investing further in the incumbent to prevent the ecosystem from splintering[cite: 20, 103, 198].
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