The annual revenue of Vietnam’s game industry has exceeded 500 million USD, ranking fifth in Southeast Asia, and huge potential remains for this industry to grow further, heard the Vietnam Gamemaker Conference on October 31.

The industry of Vietnam has made breakthrough strides over the last 10 years as seen in the rising revenue and more than half of the population accessing video games for entertainment, Director of the National Innovation Centre (NIC) Vu Quoc Huy told the Hanoi event.

It has recorded some leading developers such as VNG, Amanotes, Sky Mavis, Appota, and VTC, of which Amanotes and Sky Mavis have reached the world level, while creating jobs with high economic value in programming and design.

With important development milestones and abundant room for future growth, the game industry stands a chance to become a valuable export sector that will help develop high-quality human resources based on innovation and science - technique and raise Vietnam’s stature in the global value chain, Huy opined.

La Xuan Thang, a representative of the VNG Corporation, said about 3 billion people play video games around the world at present, accounting for 40% of the global population. The game industry’s revenue this year is forecast to hit 187 billion USD, half of which comes from mobile games.

The growth of the game industry is closely linked with the development of mobile devices, especially smartphones, he went on, adding that Asia contributes to half of the global game players and revenue, and Southeast Asia is an important market posting the world’s second fastest growth rate in this regard, after the Middle East.

In Vietnam, the industry earned 500 million USD in revenue last year, ut this figure is just the “tip of the iceberg” because it may exceed 1 billion USD if some forms of payment are included, Thang pointed out.

This shows that the game industry is developing not only in the world but also in Vietnam, he emphasised.

However, he said, despite its development prospects, the industry hasn’t received due attention in terms of policies and legal rules.

To boost the game industry’s development, it is necessary to devise favourable policies such as tax incentives and support measures, Thang noted, adding that insiders also hope authorities will view gaming as a business line and an occupation in society.

Vietnam needs about 30,000 workers in the game industry in the coming time, an opportunity for young people, especially Generation Z. Some ministries and sectors have made positive moves to support the game industry, which is a source of encouragement for insiders, according to the VNG representative.

VNA