Quantitative analysis reveals platform technological capability enhances creative destruction's impact on ecosystem generativity, suggesting stronger governance capabilities.
Creative destruction, though underexamined in platform ecosystem research, is a core mechanism of innovation and economic transformation. By disrupting established structures, it enables technological progress and increases diversity among innovators. This study investigates the dynamics of complementors within platform ecosystems and their interactions with platform owners' technological capabilities, highlighting their joint influence on generativity. Drawing on data from video game platforms, patent registrations, and quantitative analyses, we integrate creative destruction and technological capability to evaluate their combined impact on innovation outcomes. The findings indicate that platform owners' technological capability strengthens the positive effect of creative destruction on generativity. Furthermore, technological capability equips platform owners with the governance tools necessary to navigate the complexities of a diverse influx of new innovators. The study advances theory by unpacking the interplay between creative destruction and technological capability in platform ecosystems and offers managerial insights for leveraging these dynamics to sustain innovation and competitive advantage.
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Rasouli et al. (2026) studied this question.
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