In this simulation, which is based on a case study about the launch of Sony’s PlayStation 3, participants play the role of the senior management of a video game hardware platform producer, similar to that of Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft. Participants must make tough decisions about business issues, which include the pricing of hardware, negotiating royalty agreements with game designers, and whether or not to subsidise game production.

There was no news if players also had to deal with hackers, as was the case with Steam, the PlayStation Network and Nintendo this year, nor the success or failure of an impending handheld console, such as the PlayStation Vita.

Not your regular “run-and-gun”

“Platform Wars” is designed to be played individually, with participants competing against a simulated competitor in an attempt to maximise the net present value of their profits. Players are also free to go for other goals such as market share or maximum adoption of the technology overall.

Fortunately, the opportunity to be a part of the battle is not limited to the MIT community. Platform Wars is being made available to users today at no cost through the MIT Sloan Teaching Innovation Resources (MSTIR) website.

“‘Platform Wars’ offers students and other participants an interactive learning experience, by role playing the challenges of strategic competition in multi-sided markets with significant network externalities and complementary assets,” says Sterman.

Instructors can also create their own market environments through settings that govern competitor behaviour, consumer preferences, and the costs and time delays in producing games for multiple platforms. Sterman notes that the settings allow faculty to produce a series of competitive environments to teach students about concepts such as first-mover advantage, as well as the risks and limits of such “get big fast” strategies.

“The dynamics experienced in ‘Platform Wars’ are important for a huge range of industries and can be better understood through this type of hands-on application as opposed to just listening to a lecture or case study discussion,” he says.

Salt Seller and other management simulations

Sterman, who has developed management simulators since the 1980s, sees such interactive simulations as a key part of MIT Sloan’s action learning approach. Other management simulators offered through MSTIR include “Salt Seller,” a commodity pricing simulation, “Eclipsing the Competition,” a solar photovoltaic industry simulation, and “Fishbanks,” a renewable resource management simulation. Each offers a case study, video user guides and online instructions for students. Video teaching notes and slides introducing and debriefing the simulations are available for faculty.

“Classroom learning is important, but deep, actionable knowledge and decision-making skills develop when people have the chance to apply classroom theory in the real world,” says Sterman. “Especially when the stakes are high or when the consequences of our decisions unfold over years or decades -- which is the case for many of the critical issues we face -- simulation becomes the main way we can discover for ourselves how complex systems work, and develop the management and leadership skills we need to succeed.”

To access Platform Wars click here.