Orchestration and Governance in the Extended Reality Ecosystem

This study explores through a multiple case study the dynamics related to a nascent ecosystem by examining interactions between orchestrators and complementors within an evolving technological environment. Based on multiple case studies in the extended reality technology landscape, the research identifies critical challenges related to governance, standardization, and alignment. While incumbent firms provide essential infrastructure, their pursuit of proprietary platforms and closed governance models contributes to market fragmentation and to delays in ecosystem consolidation. Complementors, facing strategic ambiguity and lacking coordination, hesitate to commit to any dominant trajectory. This study contributes to the ecosystem literature by highlighting the role of complementors in early-stage ecosystems and to XR scholarship by highlighting the governance and alignment dynamics shaping the evolving technology.