Linh Tran Hanh Pham is a freelance writer who enjoys wearing multiple hats in her work life. She hopes to utilise her interdisciplinary knowledge to create unique and thought-provoking pieces about the world around her.

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While Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia are often touted as ones to watch when it comes to Southeast Asia’s gaming landscape, Vietnam is often forgotten, despite it emerging as a nascent powerhouse with an industry worth $507 million and 54.6 million gamers as of 2022. 

VietNamNet

Thanks to changing societal attitudes towards gaming, government support, and increased smartphone and internet penetration rate (with 94.2 million smartphone users and 72.1 million Internet users as of December 2022), Vietnam has positioned itself as the fifth biggest gaming market in Southeast Asia and one of the 35 major players worldwide in terms of game revenues. 

Government News

Newzoo

While mobile gaming is particularly popular with a wide range of genres that caters to different generations, from modern titles like 

 to digitised traditional games like Tiến lên (Vietnamese poker) and Cờ tướng (Chinese Chess), esports has also gained traction, with Vietnamese professional teams competing in international tournaments worth millions of dollars. What’s driving Vietnam’s gaming industry, and what should brands be aware of while tapping into the Vietnamese market?

Relaxing government attitudes towards gaming

Up until a decade ago, online gaming was criticised as ‘the culprit causing many social evils’ by the Vietnamese government and the broader public. 

 But the sentiment has drastically shifted over the last few years from one of clampdown to broad support. For example, in March 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communications issued Decision 512/QD-BTTTT with provisions on promoting Vietnam’s gaming industry, including “a plan to build the very first national strategy on online gaming in Vietnam, from 2022 to 2027, which is the very first strategy of its kind,” says David Lang, founder and CEO at Viettonkin Consulting. 

Interview with David Lang conducted by the author

LawNet

Additionally, the government has decided against levying an excise tax on online games, as the tax could foster illicit gaming practices, decrease the competitiveness of local game developers and drive them overseas, and eventually lead to a substantial loss of tax revenue. 

Vietnam News

 The very first game festival of the country, Vietnam GameVerse, was organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications in early 2023, followed by the Vietnam GameMaker Conference hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in October 2023, with government officials reiterating the gaming industry’s key role in Vietnam’s socio-economic development strategy in the next decade. 

VnExpress

Vietnam.vn

The next Vietnam GameVerse has also been planned for May 2024, with GameHub, a public-private initiative that supports game developers to pitch their projects to investors, as the highlight. 

 Such positive attitudes towards gaming are attributed not only to the gaming industry becoming increasingly lucrative over the years and representing the country’s technological advancement but also to it being a legitimate form of entertainment and a potential career path, according to Christian Nguyen, Head of Games at 

Google’s Vietnam Gaming Growth Lab 2022

Interview with Christian Nguyen conducted by the author

Despite a few lows in the past due to poor public reception of online gaming and the pandemic’s impact on the broader economy, Vietnam’s gaming industry “has been evolving, with a focus on both mobile and PC/console gaming, while producing notable games and gaining recognition in the international gaming community,” says C. Nguyen. 

 Although the industry has existed for almost three decades, only after Flappy Bird, the addictive mobile game created by the Hanoian game artist and programmer Dong Nguyen, made headlines worldwide in 2013, did global gamers pay attention to Vietnam as a hub for game development, and did a new generation of developers begin their ventures into the industry. 

SpringerLink

The Japan Times

Nowadays, there is an array of gaming development studios and indie developers across the country. One of the household names and the very first tech unicorn in Vietnam, VNG Corporation, has achieved over 261 million downloads of its MPS Studio’s games since 2019. 

Tuoi Tre News

 Other firms are also achieving commercial success, such as 

 – accumulating over 3 billion downloads across their products, and Topebox, the studio behind 

, a game published by ByteDance and downloaded over 50 million times. 

Four other game developers in Vietnam, namely Falcon Global, ABI Global, Zego Global, and Rocket Studio, have had each of their games downloaded over 100,000 times in 2022, said a Google representative in the ‘Google Think Apps 2023 – Build the Future’ event in July 2023. 

Vietnamese players engage with a melting pot of game genres, with most of them preferring online role-playing games (37%). Card games, simulation games, and casual games are also popular. 

Statista

 When it comes to gaming platforms, mobile games have been the most popular of the bunch, thanks to the widespread adoption of mobile phones across the country, with over 2.3 billion downloads alone in 2022, while consoles and game titles remain the least popular due to their high price points. 

Adjust

Viettonkin Consulting

Another notable trend can be seen in esports, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, where a growing number of Vietnamese people are participating in tournaments, streaming their gameplay, and watching competitive gaming events. 

One key reason behind such preferences for multiplayer online role-playing games, or esports tournaments and streams, is ‘the social aspect of play,’ with 46.5% gamers playing to interact with others (including viewers). This happens primarily in-game but sometimes on other social media and messaging platforms as well, with YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming leading the charge in the region. 

WARC

Vietnam has shown great potential as a gaming powerhouse for the whole world, yet there remains the great issue of made-in-Vietnam games not being made 

Vietnam. Based on official statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications, between 2008 and 2023, approximately 87% of over 930 games approved by the ministry were imported, mainly from China. 

Vietnam Briefing

 Even bigger players in the gaming landscape, like Amanotes, are not known as Vietnamese-owned companies but rather ‘positioning’ as global entities. 

While such a mindset is understandable for companies with global ambitions, it will only allow a few firms to move forward and leave the whole industry behind, as game developers and distributors cannot utilise each other’s competitive advantage, said Le Quang Tu Do, director of the Department of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information. 

Viettimes

 A reason driving this phenomenon is the lack of game development skills by local developers, which requires a sufficient and skilled workforce to meet Vietnamese gamers’ increasing demands, according to Thai Thanh Liem, CEO of Topebox and Nguyen Ngoc Bao, general director of VTC Game. However, C. Nguyen argued that such perception of Vietnamese developers’ abilities had been shifting, and many Vietnamese developers had gradually gained recognition for their craft. 

, two successful made-in-Vietnam games inspired by Vietnamese folklore and history, as examples, Lang encouraged Vietnamese developers to sensibly incorporate cultural elements to their games, not only to express their creativity but also to attract more investors and consequently capitalise on their products. 

 On the investors’ end, C. Nguyen advised that “investors should collaborate with local talents, including developers, artists, and musicians, to bring an authentic touch to the games that can resonate with Vietnamese players and support the local industry,” while still focusing on “creating high-quality games with a commitment to excellence.” 

Even though there has been an increase in Vietnamese consumers’ disposable income in general, the average monthly wage remains relatively low, at VND 7.1 million (about $289). Hence it is expected that gamers will likely be more conservative with their spending and prioritise affordability (e.g., free or free-to-play games). 

 While this is understandable, the strong preference for free gaming options has contributed to the persistence of unlicensed games in Vietnam, which account for approximately 30% of the whole market’s revenue, as of March 2023. 

 However, not everyone is unwilling to pay in this day and age, evidenced by the total spending of $100 million by Vietnamese consumers on in-app purchases within the first five months of 2023, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications. 

 Given this circumstance, both C. Nguyen and Lang suggest investors adopt free-to-play or freemium and ad-supported models to alleviate gamers’ financial burdens while still generating income from in-game advertisements, such as 

 Lang also emphasised the importance of partnerships within the gaming industry in this critical period, as it would help optimise resources and lessen financial pressures for both ends, as well as foster creative synergies for more attractive products and services. 

Lean into gaming as an ecosystem, not an isolated practice

Delving further into the idea of synergies, Vietnam has seen an increasing shift towards ‘gaming ecosystems,’ where various functions, including entertainment forms, are integrated into a single platform. For example, 

 now develops and operates more than just games. It also runs a music streaming service (Zing MP3), a messaging app (Zalo), and a mobile wallet (ZaloPay), among other functions. Another well-known gaming ecosystem is Box Vietnam, which is made up of a multichannel network with over 500 influencers and approximately 100 social communities (Box Studio), an esports talent management firm and tournament organiser (BoxSports), and a live streaming platform (GG Live), even though it does not essentially fit in the box of ‘game developers.’ 

Tech In Asia

 This seems to correlate with the demographics of Vietnamese gamers, with 78% engaging in multiple activities surrounding gaming – from watching and streaming to playing the games themselves, not to mention socialising. 

Vero

 However, even though these superapps may appear appealing, C. Nguyen advised investors to take a cautious approach, specifically by “defining the objectives of integrating gaming into the super platform, and understanding the target audience, user needs, and the value proposition that gaming brings to the overall platform.” 

 Both Christian and Lang highlighted the importance of content strategies to make use of the whole platform, as well as cross-device compatibility, including mobile, PC, and consoles, if applicable. 

Vietnam is emerging as a powerhouse with a gaming industry worth $507 million and a population of 54.6 million gamers as of 2022

Approximately $100 million has been spent by Vietnamese consumers on mobile in-app purchases within the first five months of 2023

78% of Vietnamese gamers aged 16 to 40 engage in multiple activities surrounding gaming – from watching and streaming to socialising and playing the games themselves

Vietnam’s gaming industry is growing, evidenced by government support, increased popularity of made-in-Vietnam games, and preferences for gaming as a pastime

There is a push for made-in-Vietnam games to also be made for Vietnamese people instead of being catered mostly to an international audience

Investors could consider options to make games more affordable and integrate gaming into a comprehensive ecosystem to boost chances of long-term success

Christian Nguyen has over 13 years of experience working in the game industry in Vietnam, from indie studios and startups to tech unicorns. He is the founder of 

, a website specialised in game design, and he also authored the very first Vietnamese book on game design, titled 

David Lang founded Viettonkin Group in 2009 and led over 3,000 successful consulting foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam. With over 15 years of experience in FDI strategy consulting, market entry consulting, legal advisory, audit and assurance, and public advocacy, David has consulted global MNC leaders during their venture journeys in Southeast Asia. David can be reached on his 

Vietnam

Gaming

Media and Entertainment

Vietnam has proven itself to be a key player in game production worldwide. Vietnamese consumers care about genres, affordability, and ‘the social aspect of play,’ while the government and local game developers put more emphasis on made-in-Vietnam products and the improvement of the whole industry.

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