Minecraft and the Resource-Scarcity Advantage

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.