Red Ocean

A Red Ocean is a market in which there are a lot of competitors fighting for product dominance, for example the App Store.

A Blue Ocean is the opposite: a market with relatively few competitors.

Being profitable in a Red Ocean requires a strong Barrier.

Image from Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on Flickr.

Schell (2015) (pg. 495)

References

Jesse Schell. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. CRC Press, Boca Raton, second edition edition, 2015. ISBN 978-1-4665-9864-5.