If Vietnam imposes a luxury tax on electronic games, this will deal a strong blow to the game industry, said VCCI’s (Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry) head of Legal Department Dau Anh Tuan.

There are about 200 Vietnamese-owned game studios, but most of them are headquartered in Singapore and pay tax there.

If a luxury tax is imposed on games, the games industry will no longer make a profit, and domestic firms will either fade away or be forced to seek business opportunities overseas.

Formerly witnessing a prosperous period, Vietnam’s game industry has been shrinking in recent years. The management cannot keep up pace with development, while domestic games are having to compete with pirated ones.

With app stores’ decisions to reduce discounts and support from payment service providers such as credit cards and e-wallets (MoMo), pirated games of international distributors, especially Chinese games, can easily enter Vietnam.

Gaming in Vietnam continues to be exceedingly popular, but developers are still in a weak position due to outdated regulations.

The aim is to help Vietnam’s game industry rid itself of prejudice about its harm to people, and serve as a ‘touching point’ for game firms to reach out to the global market.