Specifically, the Think Games Vietnam 2021 features 16 presentation and discussion sessions each day, bringing about abundant resources and valuable content to promote the long-term and sustainable development of Vietnam’s games industry, focusing on the three areas of building capacity for individuals and game companies, searching for funding sources to develop companies’ operations, and developing a healthy and sustainable games industry ecosystem in Vietnam.
During the events series, Google officially announced two intensive programmes – the Gaming Growth Lab and GameCamp Vietnam – specifically for companies and individuals passionate about making games in Vietnam.
To be launched in July 2021, the Gaming Growth Lab is a training programme for 30 selected potential gaming companies. During a 12-week period, the selected companies will receive thorough training in theory and practice with successful examples in building a complete game business model, developing quality game products, accessing players and generating effective revenue, and expanding their operations into international markets.
Meanwhile, GameCamp Vietnam is a project co-implemented by Google in collaboration with GameCamp Europe and leading game companies in Vietnam, aiming to create a professional game development community. Game Camp’s goal is to help games industry newcomers gain knowledge, experience and a network of experts, thus facilitating their more rapid development.
According to Tram Nguyen, Country Director for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia at Google Asia Pacific, Google has been assisting the community of app developers and startups in Vietnam for a decade.
“Through many practical programmes and methodical support activities, most recently the Gaming Growth Lab and GameCamp programmes, we hope to soon see outstanding growth in Vietnam’s games industry on the international market, thus making it a spearhead, high-value export sector, contributing to supporting economic recovery both during and after the pandemic,” she said.
According to NewZoo’s 2020 Global Game Markets Report, despite the impact of COVID-19, the total revenue of the global games market reached US$159.3 billion in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 9%. Specifically, mobile games for tablets and smartphones hit US$77.3 billion, while mobile games for smartphones recorded a revenue growth rate of 15.8%. These are optimistic numbers in the context of pandemic-induced declines across many economic sectors.
According to App Annie 2020 rankings, Vietnamese game companies ranked seventh in terms of most downloaded games in the world. For every 25 games downloaded, there was one game produced by a company from Vietnam.
Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Media Development (IPS) Nguyen Quang Dong said that despite being a potential business and the only industry exporting Vietnamese digital content products to the world, the games industry has not been properly recognised in the country.
Therefore, it is necessary to remove remaining legal barriers and introduce encouraging policies so as to create a strong push for the development of the games industry, he stated.
