Recently, the Vietnamese gaming market has been experiencing significant growth, with game downloads ranking among the top in Southeast Asia. According to data from the Vietnam Broadcasting and Electronic Information Authority, Chinese-produced video games account for 81% of the approved game market in Vietnam, six times that of locally developed games. Vietnam has become an important destination for Chinese game exports.
Current state of the Vietnamese gaming market: Growth driven by a young population
Southeast Asia is becoming one of the fastest-growing markets for mobile games globally. As a "star" market in the region, Vietnam stands out, with the market size expected to reach $1.5 to $2 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate (CAGR) expected between 15% and 25%. In the sub-sectors, the mobile gaming market is the largest, accounting for over 70% of the total market size.
Vietnam has a population of over 100 million, with 70% under the age of 35. The young demographic structure provides a huge potential user base for the mobile gaming market. The willingness of gamers to pay is also increasing, with the average revenue per user (ARPU) expected to be $93.94 by 2025, and the industry is in a phase of rapid development.
Casual/ultra-casual social, MMORPG, and strategy games become the "hot cakes"
Revenue from mobile games in Vietnam mainly comes from MMORPGs, contributing over 35% to market revenue. The proportion of Generation Z (18-30 years old) users in the Vietnamese mobile gaming market continues to grow, and they prefer games with rich plots, social interaction, and long-term development elements. With the popularization of mid-to-high-end Android devices, open-world or action RPG games supporting high-quality graphics are becoming increasingly popular. Game developers are also continuously increasing investment and innovation, introducing new gameplay and content. Vietnamese players have a strong sense of identification with local IP (such as folk tales, historical figures), and choosing localized martial arts/fantasy themes (influenced by Chinese online literature) can help elevate this category of games.
Strategy games, with their alliance confrontation and resource competition gameplay, meet the Vietnamese players' demand for competitive games and their social needs. Top players' deep payment provides strong support for the category's revenue. Innovation in themes is key to the development of strategy games. Traditional themes like the Three Kingdoms/medieval have become saturated, while new themes like survival building (e.g., zombie siege) and space exploration are showing significant growth and are more likely to attract users in the future.
Casual games rely on IAA monetization, with downloads accounting for over 50% of the market in Vietnam. Card and social casino games monetize through in-app purchases, contributing about 60% of casual game revenue. Vietnam has a long history of card game culture, and popular folk card games have been extensively adapted into mobile games, such as Bầu Cua (Fish Prawn Crab), Xóc Đĩa (Shake Dice), and Tá Lả (Vietnamese Poker). The core competitiveness of these games lies in "cultural identification + social fission + small payments," while also focusing on localization details (such as dialects, festival activities) and balancing compliance risks.
Game licensing and deep localization are key issues
Game license applications and payment localization are issues that game developers need to pay close attention to when releasing games in Vietnam.
New regulations: Games without a license cannot be listed on iOS
Developers planning to list on the Vietnam App Store should pay special attention. Recently, the Vietnamese government and Apple jointly issued new regulations requiring all games listed on the Vietnam App Store to obtain a license from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and to provide the license number and URL link on the game page.
Vietnam's game operation compliance management is relatively strict, similar to China's licensing policy, requiring approval before listing. Local companies need to operate applications listed on the Google Store in the local area, and those without a license will be reported. However, for foreign companies, there were previously methods to list on iOS without a license. Although they could also face reports and delisting fines, the penalty amounts are usually not very high. With the new regulations, developers must follow the rules and submit for review and listing.
About license approval, different types of game licenses are also classified differently, with Vietnamese online games divided into G1-G4 categories.
G1 category review is the strictest, requiring applicants to establish a local company in Vietnam or cooperate with a local distributor. The approval cycle is about 3-6 months, and detailed game content information must be submitted, including basic game information, game script, and detailed content such as character systems, task systems, maps, and charging systems. Developers should clarify their game's category before applying for a license to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Third-party payment channels become the first choice to cope with the complex overseas environment
The payment system, as an important aspect of game localization, is a key point in determining player experience, player payment conversion, and revenue growth for game companies. According to Gamma data, 60% of game companies have more than 30% of their revenue from third-party payment channels.
Third-party payment methods not only meet the payment habits of Vietnamese players but also effectively reduce the risk brought by high refund rates for manufacturers, and third-party payments can also provide timely solutions when players encounter problems during the payment process.
Mainstream mobile payment platforms in the Vietnamese market include MoMo, ZaloPlay, and VNPay:
MoMo: Vietnam's leading mobile payment platform, providing fast and convenient payment services for bills, transfers, phone card recharges, game card recharges, and more.
ZaloPlay: The "new star" of mobile payments in Vietnam, a payment wallet derived from the social app Zalo, similar to WeChat and WeChat Pay in China, is a multi-functional mobile payment application designed to meet payment needs in life, entertainment, and business, mainly supporting the local currency, Vietnamese dong.
VNPay: Supported by the State Bank of Vietnam, it is the largest payment platform in Vietnam, providing services such as electronic wallets, QR code payments, and cross-border payments, with better security and compliance.
In addition to providing localized payment methods, localized pricing strategies and simplified payment processes are also measures to improve payment conversion rates.
The average monthly income in Vietnam is about $300-500, and in-app pricing is recommended to be mainly small (e.g., $0.5-5), with the first charge package set at $0.1-1 to lower the threshold, and dynamic pricing based on user payment ability (e.g., pushing high-priced packages to big R users, limited-time discounts to small and medium R players). The in-interface currency price is displayed in Vietnamese dong (e.g., "50,000 VND" rather than "$2.14") to reduce the likelihood of users being too lazy to pay due to the additional step of converting prices themselves.
Additionally, the traditional payment process requires jumping through 3-4 pages, with a user dropout rate of up to 40%. Games can shorten the payment link by combining the recharge page with the payment confirmation page, ensuring the process is completed within 3 steps (e.g., MoMo's In-App payment only requires 2 steps), or providing a "one-click payment" feature (requiring binding of common payment methods) to effectively enhance payment conversion rates.
Summary
Benefiting from the popularization of smartphones, improvements in internet infrastructure, the demographic dividend of young people, and economic development, Vietnam is expected to become one of the fastest-growing game markets in Southeast Asia. Mobile games will continue to dominate the Vietnamese gaming industry and provide significant growth opportunities for overseas enterprises. However, the market is highly competitive, and developers need to focus on localization, user experience, and innovation to stand out in the rapidly developing market.
