[The Game Industry in Vietnam] The Thirst for Creativity, and Universities Fostering Talent

 The Bright and Dark Sides of Vietnam’s Game Industry

According to a report published by Statista, the game industry in Vietnam is anticipated to generate a total revenue of 450 million dollars in 2024, with an expected annual growth rate of 8.6% by 2027. In that year, the revenue is projected to reach 580 million dollars.

Estimated revenues of Vietnam’s game market from 2018 to 2027 (Source: Statista)

As if to underscore this, during the Think Apps 2023 event held by Google in Ho Chi Minh City at the end of July 2023, the presenter from Google highlighted Vietnam’s rise to a significant position among the top 15 countries by referring to data published by DataAI and AppMagic. The number of downloads has reached 5 billion, and, furthermore, one in every 25 games featured on the App Store is made in Vietnam. 

Ms. Phuong, currently a freshman in the Game Design program at RMIT 

Despite the rapid growth of its gaming industry, Vietnam has not yet secured a prominent position in the global gaming market. One obstacle hindering this progress is the shortage of creative talent.

While game companies in the country do turn a profit, many consider their games and ideas to lack originality, and the number of actual game designers falls significantly short. 

To be specific, Vietnamese game studios are grappling with a stagnant Web3 game market, a shortage of game developers, and financial constraints. 

Several Vietnamese game companies find themselves understaffed, leading them to focus on creating simple, broadly appealing games or outsourcing more projects to foreign companies to expedite development. This has resulted in high turnover rates for both games and employees, with companies struggling to allocate sufficient time for designing rich and meaningful player experiences.

Most notably, game companies in Vietnam are contending with severe shortages of designers, talent capable of leading game projects, and creative minds. Their primary recruitment and turnover occur in programming, marketing, and game testing positions. The prevailing trend in the country indicates a preference for hyper-casual games, which often rely on imitation and replication rather than fostering creativity. It is also common to quickly replicate gambling games like poker in a short period of time and launch them in overseas countries with less stringent regulations than Vietnam, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and South America.

Game Design and Development Programs in Vietnamese Universities

Since 2020, Vietnamese universities have been offering game development programs to provide systematic education in the field and cultivate future professionals. These programs involve recommending students to game companies based on academic performance and experience in game design. This emphasis on student recruitment and education is particularly notable in the Vietnamese branches of foreign universities and technological universities established by major IT corporations. 

BUV

In 2022, the British University Vietnam (BUV) introduced a Game Design and Programming program in response to the shortage of game developers faced by companies and studios in the country. 

The Hanoi branch of BUV (Source: BUV website)

Through collaboration with game companies, BUV’s game program provides students with opportunities to participate in projects, allowing them to build their portfolios and gain valuable internship experience. 

The university anticipates the continued growth of mobile platform-based games in the market, emphasizing ideas and innovative designs for establishing mobile platforms. 

The Game Design program offered by BUV (Source: BUV website)

RMIT

RMIT stands out as the most expensive Australian university in Vietnam and is one of the few universities offering a Game Design program. 

A view of RMIT in Ho Chi Minh City (Source: RMIT website)

Since 2022, RMIT has been providing a Game Design program at its Ho Chi Minh campus.  

Students aspiring to be game programmers or engineers can enroll in classes covering not only related fields such as computer engineering, software engineering, or digital industry studies but also game design, film editing, and multimedia arts.

This bachelor’s program in Game Design follows a curriculum similar to the one at RMIT’s main campus in Melbourne but is more tailored to the game industry and the Vietnamese market. 

An additional advantage of this program is the provision of consultations and insights into market trends, along with lectures from industry experts through partnerships with renowned game studios in Vietnam. These studios include Gameloft, Ubisoft, VNG, Sky Mavis, and Sipher (totaling 24 game-related companies.)

Vietnamese universities and their game programs (Source: Research by the author)

Transitioning from a Producer to a Think Factory 

For Vietnam to effectively nurture its game development industry and emerge as a creative content creator in the global game market, its game developers must shift from a production-centered mindset to evolving into a think factory, focusing on product invention. 

Game design and development require a blend of creative thinking, ideas, visualization, planning, problem-solving, critical thinking, research, evaluation, art, science, and technology. 

If you're planning to start a game business in Vietnam, consider adopting a more relaxed approach initially. You could begin by imitating foreign games or creating a lighthearted casual game. Instead of expecting immediate success like the P2E game Axie Infinity, concentrate on comprehending and experiencing every aspect of game creation—from attracting users to maintaining sustainable revenues and pursuing growth. This comprehensive understanding will guide you through these challenges. 

After all, games are a form of art that demands passion, creativity, and a continuous process of learning and embracing failures.

 

Vietnam IT Blogger | Doyeon (Patrick) Kim | go2hanoi (KakaoTalk),  goodserver1@gmail.com

** The copyright for this post is owned by Patrick Kim. This content is intended for publication, and individuals seeking to quote or reproduce it must obtain prior permission.

 Feb. 05,2024・Translated and Published by Uptempo Global