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Vietnam’s gaming industry has achieved an annual revenue of over US$ 500 million, placing fifth in Southeast Asia rankings. However, this figure is only the tip of the iceberg, as it could potentially surpass US$ 1 billion if various forms of payment are included from the gaming industry.
Over the past decade, Vietnam’s industry has witnessed remarkable progress evidenced by its increasing revenue and number of video game players (more than half of the population). It ranks among the top five countries for mobile game downloads from the first six months of this year.
Both domestic and international experts have said that the proliferation of new technologies like 5G, blockchain, and cloud computing, combined with significant advancements in online gaming hardware (for PCs and smartphones) has led to this rapid surge in the number of gamers in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the abundance of skilled human resources in the country has played a significant role in the success of domestic companies engaged in the production and publication of online games. Several of these have achieved global recognition and generated high-value employment opportunities in programming and design.
Companies have channelled their efforts into developing games across various genres, including MMORPG (multiplayer online role-playing games), turn-based strategy games, MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena games), casual games, strategy simulation games (SLG), and role-playing games (RPG).
Furthermore, with its ample opportunities for expansion, the gaming industry could prove to be a valuable export sector, the Director of the National Innovation Centre (NIC), Vu Quoc Huy, stated at the Vietnam Gamemaker Conference held last week. This transformation could contribute to creating high-quality human resources focused on innovation and technological advancements, elevating Vietnam’s position within the global value chain.
At the event, a representative from a Vietnamese-founded game company said that currently, across the world, approximately three billion people play video games. This constitutes around 40% of the global population. Asia contributes to half of the global game players and revenue. Southeast Asia, in particular, stands out as a crucial market, posting the world’s second fastest growth rate in this regard, after the Middle East.
Projections indicate that this year’s revenue in the game industry is anticipated to reach a staggering US$ 187 billion, half of which will come from mobile games. In fact, the growth of the game industry is closely linked with the development of mobile devices, especially smartphones. Last year, Vietnam was among the top 15 countries in the world in terms of smartphone use.
However, despite its promising development prospects, the industry in the country has not received due attention in terms of policies and legal regulations. To stimulate growth in the industry, favourable policies including tax incentives and supportive measures must be formulated and implemented.
Furthermore, insiders have expressed that they want authorities to recognise gaming as both a business sector and a legitimate profession within society.
Vietnam needs about 30,000 workers in the gaming industry in the coming time, an opportunity for young people, especially Generation Z. Encouragingly, several ministries and sectors have taken affirmative steps to provide support to the industry, offering a source of optimism for those involved in the sector.