Platform Wars Simulation Developer John Sterman (MIT) Reflection piece assignment Abstract In this live web-based simulation, participants play the role of senior management at a video game hardware platform producer, such as Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft. Built around a companion case study describing the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3, the simulation explores the dynamics of competition in multi-sided markets. In such markets, success depends not only on a product's price and features, but also on how many people own it (a direct network externality) and on the number of games and applications available-that is, the size of the installed base of complementary products (an indirect network externality). Platform markets are increasingly common in settings other than video games, including computers, the Internet and e-commerce, and mobile telecommunications. Learning Objective To allow students to experience interactively the challenges of strategic competition in multi-sided markets with significant network externalities and important complementary assets. Group Assignment Instructions: For this brief assignment, the groups do not need to coincide with the established groups for the case study and strategic brief. Following the in-class simulation, please prepare a brief report (2 page max) reflecting on the following key points: How well did your group perform during the simulation? Comment on your winning strategy or what might have helped you become successful in the long term. What did your group learn through this simulation as well as in the context of this case and industry? Be sure to add the names of your team members who participated in class