Vietnam's gaming sector has come a long way in the last ten years and is steadily making a name for itself internationally. From developing niche games for the web or mobile devices to producing top-notch games for cutting-edge platforms like PCs, Consoles, and VR. The industry is therefore very optimistic about the upcoming ten years.

This article will take you on a journey through the growth of Vietnam's gaming industry over the years, as well as the noteworthy accomplishments of domestic game studios.

2012 - 2014:

From 2012 to 2014, Vietnam’s game market witnessed the explosive growth of many domestic game studios with games that became global phenomena. Teamobi created a game that many generations cherished as their childhood memory: Avatar World. In 2004, Teamobi started in Ho Chi Minh City and gained popularity for making games on the Java platform, such as Ninja School, Army, Sky Garden. But their crowning glory is Avatar World, a social game on mobile devices.

Besides bringing in huge revenue for Teamobi, Avatar World also cultivates a lively and big community of gamers. 

In October 2010, Avatar World made its debut and soon rose to fame among Vietnamese gamers. Teamobi's data shows that Avatar World has over 10 million users who signed up, with 8 million of them being from Vietnam. The game has an average of 2.6 million daily players, which is about 30% of the country's mobile game market share. Avatar World has also been introduced to other countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia... and garnered a lot of interest from players.

Also during that time, Divmob Studio - a game studio created by Nguyen Ha Dong - attained impressive accomplishments. Producing mobile games in action, adventure, strategy types, Divmob Studio gained popularity with its excellent games such as Ninja Revenge, Zombie Age 2, Zombie Age 3, Epic Heroes War. These games have surpassed 100 million downloads on Android and iOS platforms. In particular, Zombie Age 3 and Epic Heroes War were picked as Editor's Choice on Google Play and Apple Appstore.

Divmob Studio's games have reached many different markets such as the US, China, Japan, Korea and have won many awards, good reviews from websites and magazines dedicated to games.

Not only is he the founder of Divmob Studio, Nguyen Ha Dong is also the father of the famous game Flappy Bird.After being thoroughly studied and released in 2013, the game quickly gained international traction, drawing in millions of players. Advertising revenue from Flappy Bird immediately shot to the top of the App Store and Google Play charts, paying Nguyen Ha Dong almost $50,000 per day [Shaw, 2014]. In addition, the game gave rise to a large number of parodies, clones, and replicas, as well as merchandise including toys, hats, and T-shirts.

Flappy Bird has become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring countless products based on the game.

2015 - 2017:

The music game field has also witnessed Vietnam's remarkable achievements. With over 3 billion downloads, Amanotes' products have been accessed by users in more than 190 countries. Magic Tiles is a highlight with over 500 million downloads globally [Sensor Tower, 2023], and Tiles Hop is another hit with over 300 million downloads as of 2023. Amanotes' music games not only delight millions of players worldwide, but also help promote Vietnam's image and prestige in the game sector.

For Vietnamese game studios, the years 2015–2017 can be considered an amazing transformation in terms of revenue. The Vietnamese gaming business brought in an estimated 600 million USD in revenue in 2017, almost twice as much as it did in 2014 (about 300 million USD), according to statistics from Statista [Statistic, 2023]. Leading companies like VNG, Onesoft, Amanotes, Falcon Global, ABI Global, Zego Global and Rocket Studio made significant progress during this time.

Founded in 2014, Amanotes quickly created a "hit of the century" with its distinctive style combining music and sharp graphics, delivering a unique gaming experience. According to App Annie's statistics, Amanotes has had over 1 billion downloads worldwide, and is the only Vietnamese game studio in the top 10 game developers with the highest revenue on Google Play and App Store in 2017.

Amanotes' products always achieve high performance, highlighted by Magic Tiles reaching over 500 million downloads worldwide [Sensor Tower, 2023] while Tiles Hop also attracted more than 300 million downloads by 2023.

Magic Tiles has achieved popularity in 190 countries on the planet.

Shooting game developer Onesoft, known for hits like Galaxy Attack: Alien Shooter and Space Shooter: Galaxy Attack, also made a significant impact during this time. Onesoft has over 500 million downloads globally, and according to Sensor Tower data, it was among the top 100 game developers with the most money made on Google Play and the App Store in 2017.

Amanotes and Onesoft's achievements have boosted the prestige and standing of Vietnamese games internationally, as well as showcasing the innovation of local game makers in a sector that was seen as immature in Vietnam then.

2018- 2020:

In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic's effects, the revenue of Vietnam's game industry still achieved positive growth for three consecutive years. A Google and Niko Partners analysis states that Vietnam’s game industry's revenue increased by 28% in 2017 to $477 million USD in 2018. The revenue rose to 635 million USD in 2019, taking up 0.4% of the global market share and placing Vietnam at the 28th position in the world. Vietnam’s game industry continued to grow remarkably in 2020, with a revenue of 774 million USD, a 22% increase from the year before. Large and well-known studios such as Divmob, Onesoft, Amanotes, TeaMobi, which earned about 200 million USD per year in total, successfully entered foreign game markets like the US, South Korea, Thailand, ...

2019 was also a glorious year for VNG when it earned hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to the two games Dead Target and Gunny Origin. The company's revenue reached 4,221 billion dong (about 182 million USD), representing about 24.5% of Vietnam's online game market share according to data from Niko Partners [Niko Partners, 2020].  

With Dead Target and Gunny Origin, VNG achieved a "jackpot" of income.

Featuring crisp visuals and immersive audio, the shooter game Dead Target was launched by VNG in 2014, and by December 2019 it had surpassed 100 million downloads on Google Play and App Store. This game also ranks among the most successful FPS games of Vietnam.

Launched in June 2018 as a better version of Gunny, Gunny Origin strives to provide players with novel and appealing experiences that surpass the old version. VNG stated that Gunny Origin has garnered more than 10 million downloads and above 5 million active players during its two years of operation. The game has also received many distinguished awards nationally and globally, such as Top Coordinate Shooting Game 2018, Top Vietnam Mobile Game 2019, Top Southeast Asia Coordinate Shooting Game 2020...

2021 - 2023: MOBILE GAMING’S EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AND THE FUTURE OUTLOOK

Witnessing the great achievements in the previous period, Vietnam’s game industry is expected to make a breakthrough in 2021 - 2023. According to a report by the Vietnam Software and Information Technology Services Association (VINASA), the revenue of the Vietnamese game industry in 2021-2023 is expected to reach 1.5 billion USD, growing 15% compared to the previous period. Sky Mavis led the way for games that employ Blockchain technology in 2021 with the debut of Axie Infinity.

Using Blockchain technology in its design and operation, Axie Infinity was one of the first games to generate more than 2 billion USD in 2021.

Titan Hunters was co-developed by Topebox, a top mobile game developer in Vietnam, and Rikkei Capital, a Japanese company with ten years of experience. Since its release, Titan Hunters has seen remarkable success. In just six months, the game garnered over 500,000 downloads and was listed in the top three titles in Japan [Vietdata, 2023]. Known for sticking to its timeline and continuously enhancing the user experience, Titan Hunters was among the first games to launch during the Crypto Winter period.

In 2023, the Vietnamese game market achieved a remarkable revenue of 1.2 billion US dollars, up by 25% from 2022. The mobile game segment was the main driver of this growth, with a revenue of 840 million US dollars, or 70% of the market [Newzoo, 2023]. Vietnam has established itself as the powerhouse of the game market in Southeast Asia, with a massive 39% of the region's total game revenue.

Vietnam’s gaming firms have not only thrived in their own market but have also taken their products global, collaborating with major companies such as Tencent, Garena, and VNG to distribute their titles abroad. In addition, 2023 was a year to remember for the Vietnamese game industry, as it hosted the first and largest game festival in the country. Vietnam Game Festival - GameVerse 2023 happened in Hanoi in October 2023, gathering more than 100 game companies from all over the world, along with thousands of game enthusiasts and critics. The event set a bold target for the Vietnamese game industry: to earn a revenue of 1 billion US dollars in 5 years. 

Vietnam GameVerse 2023 sets new expectations for the future of the Vietnamese gaming industry.

CONCLUSION

To stay up with the latest user trends, Vietnam’s game industry is expanding in a number of ways, including quantity, quality, and creativity. Especially in recent years, besides the efforts of the game publishers and the gaming community, this sector also receives support from large technology corporations such as Google, Meta and Microsoft, which further enhances the strength of this industry. Over the past decade, Vietnam’s game industry has had a proud development journey. However, it still has to deal with many difficulties such as the shortage of manpower, and the existence of many misunderstandings about the game industry among the public. Therefore, to be one of the leading economic sectors of the nation, this promising industry needs to work harder than ever. Game studios in the country need to keep enhancing product quality, tap into new markets, collaborate with global partners and produce games with innovation and originality. Let's keep an eye on the latest triumphs of the Vietnamese gaming industry in the upcoming years.