Steady software supply is a crucial driver of platform sales. While publishers benefit from releasing software across multiple platforms to tap a greater market, platform manufacturers often seek exclusive release to differentiate from competitors. Research has examined such software multihoming across competing platforms of the same technology generation (i.e., the proximal market); however, publishers increasingly multihome software to platforms in distal markets. In the video game console industry, these include previous-generation consoles, handhelds, or mobile devices. This study investigates multihoming to distal markets in the seventh and eighth game console generations. Whereas multihoming to previous-generation consoles cannibalizes focal console sales, multihoming to mobile devices exerts complementary effects. Software quality and console age moderate these relationships, with negative spillovers from multihoming to previous-generation consoles being rooted in lower-quality games and games released later in the console’s lifecycle. By contrast, multihoming to mobile devices is most beneficial early on.

稳定的软件供应是平台销售的关键驱动力。虽然出版商从跨多个平台发布软件以开拓更大的市场而受益，但平台制造商通常寻求独家发布以与竞争对手区分开来。研究已经检查了这种跨同一技术世代的竞争平台（即近端市场）的软件多宿主；然而，出版商越来越多地将多宿主软件转移到远端平台市场。在视频游戏机行业，这些包括上一代游戏机、手持设备或移动设备。本研究调查了第七代和第八代游戏机终端市场的多宿主。上一代主机的多宿主功能蚕食了游戏机的焦点销售，而移动设备的多宿主功能则发挥了互补作用。软件质量和游戏机年龄缓和了这些关系，从多宿主到上一代游戏机的负面溢出植根于质量较低的游戏和游戏机生命周期后期发布的游戏。相比之下，移动设备的多宿主在早期是最有利的。