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Minecraft and the Resource-Scarcity Advantage

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Managing Complexity

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

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Abstract

This chapter tries to shine a light on the seemingly paradoxical role of resource scarcity as help, rather than hindrance, to innovation. It does so by showing that Minecraft’s remarkable success has been the result of a fertile set of design and business model choices, some of which were due to the typical constraints that weigh on an innovator who is short of time and money. First, by contrasting the success of Minecraft with the disappointing performance of Second Life, I will show that Minecraft’s design and business model were exceptionally good. Then, by contrasting Minecraft’s success with LEGO Universe’s failure, I will show that such optimal choices were partly due to the scarcity of time and money that Markus Persson, Minecraft’s creator, was working under during the critical months of his game’s initial development. The chapter ends with some strategic implications of my argument.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Technology, University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Montreal, QC, Canada

    F. Xavier Olleros

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  1. F. Xavier Olleros
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Correspondence to F. Xavier Olleros .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management & Technology, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Jocelyn Bellemare

  2. Department of Management & Technology, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Serge Carrier

  3. Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Kjeld Nielsen

  4. Technology and Innovation Management, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Frank T. Piller

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Olleros, F.X. (2017). Minecraft and the Resource-Scarcity Advantage. In: Bellemare, J., Carrier, S., Nielsen, K., Piller, F.T. (eds) Managing Complexity. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29058-4_29

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