Blockchain games, or GameFi, began to boom in Vietnam in 2018. Axie Infinity by SkyMavis is the best known Vietnamese-made GameFi. It has become a hit phenomenon globally with capitalization value of $2.9 billion.

According to Coinmarketcap, the value of one AXS (Axie Infinity token) on July 26, 2021 was $41.51 with trading volume within the latest 24 hours of transaction of $2.9 billion. Axie Infinity’s capitalization at that time was $2.5 billion with 61 million AXS in circulation. The capitalization of the game once climbed to $3.4 billion and SkyMavis became another unicorn in Vietnam.

Encouraged by Axie Infinity’s success, other GameFi created by Vietnamese, namely My DeFi Pet, 9D, Theta Arena and Sipher, have emerged most recently. These games have capitalization value of tens to hundreds of million of dollars. Of these, Sipher has  investment capital of over $50 million.

Despite achievements in the world market, blockchain games have not been recognized in Vietnam. As a result, blockchain game producers have to distribute their products in international markets.

A game producer told VietNamNet that under current regulations on licensing online games in Vietnam, blockchain games cannot satisfy the requirements. To avoid legal problems, game studios only have one choice, to go abroad.

A report by Crypto Crunch App released in late 2023 showed that the community of Vietnamese cryptocurrency investors had 26.6 million members, among the world’s top three.

Though Vietnam-made blockchain games are distributed in international markets, many people can bypass barriers to play games by changing IP addresses, using VPN. Gamers want to experience Vietnam-made games, some of which are dominating the market.

Whether to license blockchain games remains an unanswered question in Vietnam. For the time being, game firms develop two versions for one game. As for the version with no connections to funding, tokens or NFTs, the firms will ask for licenses to distribute domestically. Meanwhile, the version with GameFi will be distributed internationally.

GameFi is a combination of game and finance. GameFi ecosystem uses cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology to create a virtual gaming environment.

Game firms have urged state management agencies to consider management schemes for blockchain games, saying that blockchain game distribution will help reach the goal of obtaining billions of dollars of revenue from games.

Le My