Hanoi (VNA) – The annual revenueof Vietnam’s game industry has exceeded 500 million USD, ranking fifth inSoutheast Asia, and huge potential remains for this industry to grow further,heard the Vietnam Gamemaker Conference on October 31.

The industry of Vietnam has madebreakthrough strides over the last 10 years as seen in the rising revenue andmore than half of the population accessing video games for entertainment,Director of the National Innovation Centre (NIC) Vu Quoc Huy told the Hanoi event.

It has recorded someleading developers such as VNG, Amanotes, Sky Mavis, Appota, and VTC, of which Amanotesand Sky Mavis have reached the world level, while creating jobswith high economic value in programming and design.

With important development milestonesand abundant room for future growth, the game industry stands a chance tobecome a valuable export sector that will help develop high-quality humanresources based on innovation and science - technique and raise Vietnam’sstature in the global value chain, Huy opined.

LaXuan Thang, a representative of the VNG Corporation, said about 3 billion peopleplay video games around the world at present, accounting for 40% of the globalpopulation. The game industry’s revenue this year is forecast to hit 187billion USD, half of which comes from mobile games.

The growth of the game industry isclosely linked with the development of mobile devices, especially smartphones,he went on, adding that Asia contributes to half of the global game players andrevenue, and Southeast Asia is an important market posting the world’s secondfastest growth rate in this regard, after the Middle East.

In Vietnam, the industry earned 500 million USD in revenue last year, but thisfigure is just the “tip of the iceberg” because it may exceed 1 billion USD ifsome forms of payment are included, Thang pointed out.

This shows that the game industry isdeveloping not only in the world but also in Vietnam, he emphasised.

However,he said, despite its development prospects, the industry hasn’t received dueattention in terms of policies and legal rules.

To boost the game industry’sdevelopment, it is necessary to devise favourable policies such as taxincentives and support measures, Thang noted, adding that insiders also hopeauthorities will view gaming as a business line and an occupation in society.

Vietnam needs about 30,000 workers in the game industry in the coming time, anopportunity for young people, especially Generation Z. Some ministries andsectors have made positive moves to support the game industry, which is asource of encouragement for insiders, according to the VNG representative./.