DigiPlay 5: Business Models, User Experiences and Public Interest

Tuesday 22nd March 2005
Room 2.20
The Research Beehive
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE1 7RU

Industry Evolution and Cross-Sectoral Skill Transfers: A Comparative Analysis of the Video Game Industry in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom

Hiro Izushi and Yuko Aoyama

This article explores the inter-relationship between technological progress and the formation of industry-specific skills by analysing industry evolution of the video game industry in three countries: Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We argue that cross-sectoral transfer of skills occur differently depending on national contexts, such as social legitimacy and strength of pre-existing industries, socio-economic status of entrepreneurs/pioneer firms in an emerging industry, and the socio-cultural cohesiveness between the pre-existing and emerging industries. Each country draws on a different set of creative resources that result in a unique trajectory. While Japan’s video game industry emerged out of corporate sponsorships in arcades, toys and consumer electronics industries and drew skills from comic book and animation film sectors, the video game industry in the United States evolved from arcades and personal computers. In the United Kingdom, the video game industry developed bottom-up through a process of skills formation known as the youth culture of ‘bedroom coders’ that nurtured selftaught programmers in their teens throughout the country.

Keywords: Video game industry, Cross-sectoral skill transfer, Industry, Evolution, Japan, United States, United Kingdom.

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