On the morning of May 8 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Gameverse 2026 officially opened. The annual event, first launched in 2023, has steadily expanded in scale and is now evolving into an internationally recognized gaming industry gathering.

Gameverse 2026 has taken on a new stature, welcoming partners from China, South Korea, Japan, Türkiye and Taiwan, as well as global technology groups including Google and Meta.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Le Quang Tu Do, Director General of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Vietnam is in the process of transforming into a middle-income country.

For the first time, Vietnam has introduced resolutions and policies focused on cultural development, with gaming identified as one of six key industries prioritized for investment and growth. Companies producing games centered on history and culture will also receive tax incentives and reductions.

According to Le Quang Tu Do, the gaming industry is benefiting from favorable timing, strong market conditions and broad support, creating an opportunity for rapid acceleration and breakthrough growth.

He also called on major international partners visiting Vietnam not only to explore the market, but to actively cooperate and invest in the long-term development of the local gaming ecosystem.

Addressing domestic gaming companies, Le Quang Tu Do described the current moment as a “once-in-a-century opportunity” that businesses must seize. He urged local developers and publishers to strengthen cooperation and mutual support in order to elevate Vietnamese games onto the global stage.

Discussing the scale of Vietnam’s gaming market, Giuseppe Stasolla, Director of the Google Play ecosystem for Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand, revealed that Vietnamese apps and games recorded 8.5 billion downloads on Google Play in 2025, up 39% compared to 2024.

More notably, revenue generated by game publishers surged 69% year-on-year, an increase he described as highly impressive.

To sustain long-term and sustainable growth, Stasolla suggested that Vietnamese game developers and publishers should focus more heavily on emerging markets, where gaming revenues are growing rapidly.

Google, he added, will continue supporting Vietnamese game developers through new development tools, AI applications and smoother payment solutions.

The Google executive expressed confidence that with such strong growth momentum and continued platform support, Vietnamese games would increasingly expand onto the global stage.

Dao Quang Tuan, CEO of Funtap Games, also said he firmly believes Vietnam will become a gaming powerhouse in the coming years.

Explaining this vision, Tuan said countries with successful gaming industries typically evolve through five stages: consumption and importation; outsourcing and development services; domestic publishing and production; IP creation and cultural export; and finally platforms, core technologies and ecosystems. According to him, Vietnam is currently in the third stage.

He said Vietnam already possesses a strong domestic publishing and game production foundation. Citing a recent report from GameGeek, he noted that Vietnam now produces 75 new games every day.

Local products, he said, are increasingly proving their cross-border appeal and ability to attract large international user bases. With an ecosystem of 210 actively operating studios, Vietnam launched 27,388 new games in 2025, up 13% compared to 2024.

At the same time, the industry is shifting from a focus on quantity to quality, with genres such as Hyper Casual, Hybrid Casual and Mystery games attracting strong user engagement across platforms including the App Store, Google Play and Steam.

Dao Quang Tuan said the success of Vietnamese games is increasingly reflected in rapidly rising revenues, with growth showing no signs of slowing down.

He outlined six reasons why Vietnam’s gaming industry is expected to move to a higher level in the near future: stronger investment fueled by the success of “made by Vietnamese” games; a growing number of gaming companies with improving quality; support from the government and international platforms; a culture that adapts and learns quickly; strong Vietnamese creativity in digital content creation; and a rich cultural heritage filled with untapped storytelling potential.

Le My