The challenge now is turning policy ambition into practical reforms that will help Vietnamese studios scale, innovate, and compete globally.

Decree 147 was drafted over a span of nearly four years with a cautious approach aimed at balancing risk control and industry growth. 

Vu Tu Thanh of the US-ASEAN Business Council noted that such caution made sense when regulatory capacity was more limited. However, in a sector that changes month by month, the widening gap between market speed and policy speed has become increasingly apparent.

The contrast can be summarized simply: the gaming market evolves every month, while policies need many years to formulate and implement.

Domestic companies bear heaviest burden

Duc points to another paradox. While domestic companies must comply with multiple layers of licensing requirements, cross-border gaming products can easily reach Vietnamese users through the internet.

Ironically, the businesses facing the greatest compliance costs and regulatory scrutiny are domestic companies, a phenomenon he describes as a form of "reverse protectionism."

According to data cited in the report, out of $665 million in market revenue in 2021, only about $316 million was legally declared and taxed. Around 30 percent of the market consisted of pirated or copyright-infringing games.

In other words, companies that comply with regulations bear the highest compliance costs, while a significant portion of the market continues to operate outside the formal economy.

At a time when new technologies allow small teams of just a few people to create products capable of reaching millions of users worldwide, many existing regulations remain designed around the logic of large enterprises.

This mismatch makes compliance particularly burdensome for innovative startups.

Resolution 80: new perspective

The greatest significance of Resolution 80 may not be that it mentions online gaming for the first time. More important is the fundamental shift in how the industry is viewed.

For years, discussions about gaming in Vietnam centered largely on management, licensing, and risk control. Resolution 80 introduces a different perspective: viewing gaming as a cultural industry, a creative product capable of generating jobs, contributing tax revenue, and bringing Vietnamese stories to global audiences.

For the first time, electronic games have been incorporated into Vietnam's national cultural industry development strategy and recognized as cultural products capable of carrying Vietnamese brands to international markets while becoming globally competitive export products.

Within the country's priority cultural industries, gaming has been identified as a sector deserving focused investment. This represents a shift from regulating a form of entertainment to developing a cultural industry.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, deputy director general of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Vietnam is now one of Southeast Asia's most dynamic gaming markets, supported by a young developer workforce capable of competing globally.

The bigger challenge, however, is creating gaming brands with lasting appeal capable of telling Vietnamese stories and bringing Vietnamese cultural values to the world.

Projects such as Hao Khi Dong A demonstrate that Vietnam's history, culture, and values can indeed be retold through the language of the digital age.

Huyen believes this is also the right moment for Vietnam to develop high-value digital content industries based on knowledge and creativity. A game launched in Vietnam can potentially reach hundreds of millions of users worldwide, carrying Vietnamese stories and cultural values with it.

In that sense, gaming is no longer merely an entertainment business. It is a story about national competitiveness in the digital economy, where content creation is becoming an increasingly important source of economic growth.

A new door opens

According to Thanh, the key question today is no longer whether gaming should be regulated, but how it should be regulated. A cautious approach may make systems safer. But in a rapidly changing world, the cost of excessive caution continues to rise.

That is why many experts advocate shifting from pre-approval mechanisms toward post-audit supervision and risk-based regulation, rather than applying the same framework to all businesses.

Resolution 80 has opened a new chapter in Vietnam's thinking about the gaming industry. But for this shift in mindset to translate into real growth, institutional barriers will likely need to be addressed next.

The industry's greatest asset is imagination. And like every creative industry, imagination can only flourish in an environment open enough to allow experimentation, failure, and trying again.

Tu Giang