The Ministry of Information and Communications is developing a strategy to develop Vietnam’s game industry

VietNamNet had a discussion with Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Deputy Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information about the upcoming development strategy of Vietnam’s game industry.

Mr. Le Quang Tu Do – Deputy Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information

As a regulator in the field of online games, how does the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information assess the development of the game industry in Vietnam in recent years?

Mr. Le Quang Tu Do: It can be said that in recent years, the development of the game industry in Vietnam has made many great strides, typically under the direction and companionship of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information. In 2021, the Alliance of Online Video Game Producers and Publishers in Vietnam was officially established under the name VGDA (Vietnam Game Development Alliance).

Up to now, the Alliance has attracted and gathered nearly 60 members who are active in the field of online video games, of which the Coordination Committee has 10 members: VNG, Vietnam Esports, GOSU Corp, SohaGame, VTC Game, Gamota, Funtap, Viettel Media, Travellet, Solaplay.

The Alliance of Video Game Producers and Publishers in Vietnam was established in the spirit of “Sharing Solidarity – Constantly Innovating” to join hands to contribute and develop Vietnamese Game, catching up with the global trend. demand, improve competitiveness with foreign enterprises; building images and communicating about the industry’s activities and contributions to society.

According to data from organizations such as Google, Sensor Tower, Data.ai, Vietnam is in the top of global game production and publishing from international app stores. Does the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information have any comment on these figures?

In fact, the data on the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information are obtained directly from reports of international organizations. Accordingly, Vietnam is currently the country with the number 1 number of application and game studios in Southeast Asia.

The potential of Vietnam is huge, but one thing is that most of the app and game studios are releasing in the international market and opening companies abroad. When these studios grow up, they always operate internationally, do not return to the country and mainly do outsourcing for foreign companies. The purpose of this is to avoid paying taxes, thus causing both revenue loss to the budget and brain drain abroad.

Currently, the Department of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information is studying policies to promote advantages and at the same time overcome inadequacies in the coming time.

How will the upcoming strategy to develop Vietnam’s game industry be implemented, sir?

Regarding the strategy, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information is researching and developing. However, it will basically focus on the two main areas of the game industry today, production and publishing.

Currently, by structure, the manufacturing segment accounts for 12% of revenue and the publishing segment accounts for 88%, which shows that the manufacturing segment is still weak and limited.

The reason why the production segment accounts for modest revenue and the big difference with the figures of international reports on games is that, as mentioned above, there is still a “dark picture, a light picture” in this field. Accordingly, studios located abroad do not pay taxes, so the state cannot collect money and cannot add to the books of revenue and profit for general calculation.

In this field, the task of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information when formulating a strategy is to propose policies to protect and promote the development of game production in Vietnam. Bringing large studios located abroad back to domestic business and encouraging studios to start their businesses from Vietnam, instead of setting up overseas and avoiding tax obligations like now.

In the publishing segment, Vietnam is currently developing very well and accounts for 88% of revenue. However, in this segment, domestic businesses mainly go to buy foreign games for release and most of them are Chinese games. This leads domestic businesses to work for foreign companies, for Chinese companies. Besides, it also leads to “sensitive” issues related to content, history and culture, when young people mainly play foreign games like today.

In addition, there is a phenomenon that a few businesses seek to act as a front for foreign businesses to “hide” to release domestic games, collect money from Vietnamese people, but pay no tax or pay very little tax. The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information has coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to handle many violations in recent years.

Going forward, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information will solve the problem of reducing dependence on foreign games in the publishing segment and increase revenue for domestic enterprises, so that they do not have to work as hired laborers like now. .

Where will Vietnam’s goal place itself on the world game map?

Currently, the Department is developing specific goals and targets for the development of the game industry. For example, in the field of game production, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information will come up with plans to promote the strengths of Vietnamese engineers and studios in the coming time.

As mentioned above, currently according to statistics from international organizations, Vietnam is ranked No. 1 in Southeast Asia in terms of making apps and games, on app stores like the App Store and Google Play.

For example, the number of Vietnamese game developers on Apple’s app store is reported to be 180,000 developers, the capacity is in the top 3 in Southeast Asia. But, currently we are still mainly outsourcing for foreign companies.

Another thing is that Vietnamese people nowadays are very responsive to new technology trends. Typically, in the past time, the application of Blockchain technology to game development and products is among the top in the world, notably the SkyMavis studio with the Axie Infinity game, which has become a technology unicorn, with capital. up to 3 billion USD at one point.

The Ministry of Information and Communications is also studying options to promote the advantages of creativity and catch up with technology trends of Vietnamese engineers and game studios in the coming time.

In addition to promoting the development of the domestic game industry, because this is a smokeless industry that generates high revenue and profits, and is suitable for Vietnamese businesses, the Ministry of Information and Communications has also submitted to the Government to supplement a number of regulations. a series of regulations governing business activities of enterprises and playing games of people, to minimize the negative side of games, especially for children.

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