According to App Annie, a mobile market data and analytic platform, in 2020, Vietnam game companies ranked seventh in the number of game downloads worldwide. For every 25 games downloaded, one was made in Vietnam, stated App Annie.
Vietnam is the promised land for mobile game publishers, this is a statement by Junde Yu, General Manager of Gaming of App Annie.
Vietnam takes pride in having a “mobile-first” culture, with 68 million people owning a smartphone. 64% of whom are using 3G, 4G, or 5G. The Vietnamese average time spent a day on gaming is 3.9 hours, which is 10% more than an American average gaming hour.
In 2020, the game industry in Vietnam made revenue of 12,000 billion VND, which doubled the amount in 2015. The industry is attracting 25,000 labors, serving 32 million players throughout the country.
Data published recently showed that the game industry in Vietnam has great potential and has made a breakthrough in the international game market. Five game companies from Vietnam made the list of Top Ten ANZSEA Headquartered Game Publishers in 2021.
These numbers proved that the game industry in Vietnam has great potential to grow in the future. While the COVID-19 pandemic is progressing complicatedly, the game market is still achieving impressive growth. Vietnam game industry has the chance to become a new exporter with high value.
Vietnam game industry has a lot of space for development but also experiences some setbacks. The total downloads of games in Vietnam are high, but domestic game publishers are the lowest in Southeast Asia in terms of revenue. A Vietnamese game player contributes to publishers an average revenue of 230 VND, while in Japan, this number is 350,000 VND, which is 154 times higher.
According to Mrs. Tram Nguyen - Google Country Director for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Google has been accompanying the game companies, app developers, and start-ups in Vietnam for the last decade.
Google has recently implemented the GameCamp project and the Gaming Growth Lab program specialized for companies and individuals in Vietnam with a passion for making games.
Over the years, Google has diversified training activities and programs for the game industry in Vietnam, training individual game publishers and small game companies. Through this training, Google has step by step helped Vietnam game companies access professional game-making processes. Google also assisted in introducing excellent game products of Vietnam to the international market, for example, the game Heroes Strike of WolfFun was promoted at the International Game Exhibition G-Star in Busan, Korea.
Google expects to soon witness the outstanding growth of Vietnam’s game industry in the international market, making the game industry an important exporter, contributing to the recovery of the economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Media Development (IPS), stated that the game industry is still not being properly recognized, despite being a business with many potential and also is the only industry able to “export” digital content of Vietnam to the world. Therefore, removing legal barriers and providing new policies will help in developing the game industry.
The 2020 International Games Market Report by NewZoo showed that during the time of the pandemic, the total revenue of the international game industry in 2020 still reached 159,3 billion USD, up 9% compared to 2019, half of this number came from the mobile game segment. Specifically, games designed for tablets and smartphones reached 77,3 billion USD in revenue, of which, games for smartphones had an annual growth rate of 15,8%.
These numbers illustrated a positive and bright picture for the game industry, especially when many other economic sectors are going downhill due to the heavy impact of COVID-19. Asia is the biggest game market, taking up half the regional revenue, having a speedy growth rate alongside the Latin America and the Africa – Middle East region.
Compiled by VietnamCredit
