Software ecosystem sustainability: A participation-based perspective

Context Software's intrinsic properties, near-zero marginal cost, architectural extensibility, and self-reinforcing network effects, generate the multi-actor, platform-mediated ecosystem structures that define value creation. Because these properties are constitutive, a rigorous account of software ecosystem (SECO) sustainability requires a literature in which software is the primary object of inquiry, not assumed infrastructure. The SECO research tradition occupies that position, yet the conditions under which autonomous actors remain engaged over time are theoretically underspecified. Sustainability is predominantly assessed through proxy indicators from technical and community dimensions, while the business dimension, covering value capture, revenue models, and participation incentives, is largely absent. Objectives This study aims to (1) assess how sustainability is conceptualized and operationalized across the SECO literature, (2) identify the limitations of proxy-based sustainability assessment, and (3) develop a theory-grounded explanation of SECO sustainability in terms of conditions enabling continued actor participation. Methods An integrative review was conducted across a primary SECO corpus and a complementary adjacent business, digital, and platform ecosystem (BECO) corpus. Literature was analyzed using the Three-Dimensional SECO Sustainability Framework, distinguishing value creation (technical), value co-creation (community), and value capture (business) as mutually conditioning dimensions. Results Value-capture concepts are almost entirely absent from the primary SECO corpus. Existing indicators assume continued participation but do not explain it. SECO actors are autonomous participants whose engagement is conditional on capturing sufficient value to justify their continued contribution. The BECO literature provides relevant economic theory around value capture and participation viability. Conclusion Reframing SECO sustainability as a participation problem grounded in economic viability, rather than a coordination problem resolvable through technical architecture and governance alone, identifies economic viability of participation as a necessary condition for sustainability. This provides a theory-driven basis for integrating fragmented indicators and a foundation for cumulative research on how software ecosystems persist, adapt, and fail.