Vietnam’s gaming industry is continuing its rapid rise on the global stage, with the country now setting its sights on becoming a billion-dollar gaming market by 2030.
According to recent industry data shared during a 2025 report on Vietnam’s mobile gaming sector, the country recorded 4.9 billion global mobile game downloads, ranking second worldwide behind only China. It is also to be noted that around 95% of those downloads came from international users.
With the industry currently valued at around $650 million, Vietnam is now targeting $1 billion in gaming revenue by the end of the decade. The growth strategy is being supported through a combination of government backing, policy reforms, and investments in local talent development, which is also quoted as a “golden period” by local news.
Gaming has now officially been recognized as one of the key sectors in Vietnam’s national cultural industry development strategy. It is listed as “Software and Interactive Entertainment Games” in the same.
The Vision to Push the “Local to Global” Strategy
When I read through Vietnam’s cultural industry strategy, it is clear that gaming has been treated as an important sector for years now. Earlier plans already highlighted interactive games and digital content as key growth areas, while also pointing out issues like slow bureaucracy, outdated systems, and the need for stronger digital talent development.
Under this approach, Gaming is no longer just grouped under digital entertainment and is pushed more aggressively as a priority industry. The newer policies around easier publishing rules, beta testing flexibility, and tax exemptions for games featuring Vietnamese culture show that Vietnam is actively trying to create a stronger environment for local studios to grow globally.
To encourage domestic studios, the government is introducing new policies that simplify publishing requirements, allow beta testing flexibility, and reduce licensing hurdles for local developers.
In addition, games that incorporate Vietnamese history and cultural themes are eligible for tax exemptions ranging from two to four years, further encouraging studios to build culturally rooted projects.
Vietnam’s annual gaming events are also becoming increasingly important for the ecosystem. At Vietnam GameVerse 2026, which kicked off on May 8, 2026, several projects featuring Vietnamese cultural identities secured investment opportunities and industry partnerships, as a push to elevate the local gaming industry globally.
The country’s competitive advantage continues to come from its young, tech-oriented workforce. To strengthen long-term growth, government bodies and industry leaders are reportedly collaborating to train around 5,000 high-level gaming engineers to improve both production capabilities and global competitiveness.
