Vietnam’s gaming industry levels up for global expansion

Vietnam’s gaming industry levels up for global expansion

Vietnam's gaming industry is entering a new growth phase as local developers expand beyond the domestic market, supported by rising digital capabilities, stronger investment, and growing international demand for online entertainment.

At Vietnam GameVerse 2026, held on May 8-9 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vu Minh Hanh, CEO of GameGeek, said the industry is being driven by strong internal resources in human capital, production capability, and global distribution capacity.

Vietnam GameVerse 2026

"With this development momentum, Vietnam will gradually affirm its position as a new star of the global gaming industry, aiming to become a sustainable game development hub capable of standing alongside leading countries in the near future," she said.

According to data from the event, Vietnam's gaming market is expected to have generated approximately $1.66 billion in revenue in 2025, with annual growth projected at nearly 9.77 per cent, reaching approximately $2.42 billion by 2029.

Hanh believes the scale, growth rate, and quality of Vietnamese game products have improved significantly in recent years, helping the country emerge as one of the world’s leading mobile game production centres.

This shift comes as Vietnam is accelerating its broader digital transformation strategy and seeking to strengthen its cultural and creative industries. Gaming is increasingly being viewed not just as a form of entertainment but also as part of the country’s digital content economy.

Le Quang Tu Do, director general of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Vietnam considers gaming one of six main strategic cultural industries amid efforts to promote innovation and digital growth.

He noted that companies producing games with historical and cultural content are also eligible for multiple incentive policies, including tax reductions and exemptions.

“Vietnam’s gaming industry has favourable timing, strong market conditions, and skilled workers, creating important opportunities for growth,” he said, citing the need for international partners to deepen investment cooperation within the country’s gaming ecosystem.

Adam Seldow, director of education policy at Roblox, a global online gaming and game creation platform, said digital creator platforms are enabling Vietnamese developers to reach global users more directly.

“Vietnam possesses a highly creative young community with strong potential to participate more actively in the global creator economy through gaming and digital platforms,” he said.

Nguyen Thi Ngan Giang, director of content quality at Channel 28 Entertainment JSC, said games are increasingly becoming a form of digital cultural content that combines storytelling, creativity and audience engagement.

“Historical and cultural depth is becoming an important factor helping entertainment products maintain long-term appeal. AI is also emerging as a key factor in the industry’s future development,” she noted.

Meanwhile, according to Giuseppe Stasolla, director for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand ecosystems at Google Play, Vietnam remains one of the region’s fastest-growing markets thanks to its young developer community and strong adaptability.

“The important thing is to turn these advantages into sustainable operational capabilities and long-term competitiveness in the international market,” he said.

According to him, AI technologies are helping studios reduce up to 90 per cent of code review workloads, optimise testing processes, personalise user experiences, improve operational efficiency and strengthen competitiveness

Despite positive growth prospects, Vietnam’s gaming sector continues to face challenges related to workforce quality and high-level talent development.

Cao Minh Thang, director of the CDiT Institute of Information Technology and Communications, said the decisive factor for the industry’s next stage of growth would lie in both technology, market expansion and the ability to build training ecosystems connected with industry demand and the long-term development of cultural industries.

However, he noted that this remains a major challenge for both educational institutions and game companies in Vietnam.

“Training remains fragmented between programming and art, while the market is facing a serious shortage of high-quality digital engineering, cinematic and graphic talents for large-scale game projects,” he said. “To produce AAA-level games, Vietnam is still severely lacking cinematic professionals,” Thang added.

According to a survey conducted by CDiT, many domestic studios are struggling to recruit employees capable of meeting the requirements of global-scale production projects.

Thang believes game training models should shift towards product-based learning instead of focusing mainly on theory. Students would participate in Game Jam activities, real-world projects and collaborations with businesses during their studies to better meet industry demand.

According to reports by GameGeek and Sensor Tower, Vietnamese games currently record an average of 9,300 downloads per minute globally.

The number of Vietnamese game publishers increased 27 per cent to 2,679 units in 2025, helping Vietnam rank sixth globally in publisher growth while accounting for 2.3 per cent of the world’s total publishers.

Vietnam’s gaming ecosystem maintained strong output, with 27,388 new game titles launched last year, up 13 per cent on-year. The figure placed the country among the world’s top 33 markets in terms of production volume.

Meanwhile, the domestic market accounted for only 5.53 per cent of total downloads (around 272 million downloads), indicating that nearly 94.5 per cent of the creative output produced by Vietnamese studios is being consumed in international markets, reflecting both a large user base and increasing participation in the global digital economy.

VIR