The literature on coopetition has made a substantial progress in identifying its attributes and outcomes. However, published work has much less to say about the emergence of this strategy. We develop a view on coopetition adoption at industry level, focused on exogenous factors, and seen from an evolutionary perspective. Our longitudinal study of the airline industry development reveals that coopetition is a way of operating, aimed at shaping relationships between value network members. Empirical data suggest that cooperative moves of key players are meant at a more efficient value creation. Yet, those moves involve also intra- and internetwork competition. Industry rules reshaping is followed by competition for the value created, which in turn generates a re-framing of the market game. Rapid imitation suggests that competitors need to react and also adopt coopetitive behaviours.