Vietnam’s gaming industry seeks new action

Photo for illustration. ictnews.vn

Officials and business representative gathered at a recent workshop in Hanoi to discuss how to develop online games and restrict their negative impacts on society.

At the event, delegates deliberated on suitable ways for Vietnam’s enterprises, which produce and provide online games, to promote their business.

According to Hoang Vinh Bao, Director of the Broadcasting and Electronic Information Department at the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), as of July 2013, a total of 117 online games have been licensed, of which 44 had stopped running.

However, after the MoIC ceased to license new online games in October 2010, most licensed games of Vietnamese providers failed to attract players, Bao said, adding that domestic gamers have a tendency to look for foreign games, most of which are unlicensed which have not been licensed.

At the workshop, participants suggested the Government urgently issue detailed and feasible policies in order to facilitate the operations of digital content sector in general and domestic providers of online gaming services in particular, helping them win back the domestic market.

The policies should also encourage Vietnam’s game providers to create made-in-Vietnam games which feature Vietnam’s national characters and promote the country’s culture and history to the world.

Nguyen Van Hung, Chief Inspector of the MoIC, said 100 percent of online game suppliers have been forced to provide unlicensed games to meet the huge demand of players and to maintain their existence in the market.

Taking advantage of the situation, a number of foreign companies established businesses in Vietnam, supplying a series of unlicensed games and evading taxes.

The presence of international businesses, which makes corrupt use of legal loopholes to operate in Vietnam, results in Vietnamese enterprises being pushed out of the online gaming market in their own country.

At the event, Vietnamese businesses expressed their hope that the MoIC will resume the licensing of new games as soon as possible, helping local game providers overcome the current difficult situation.

Speaking at the closing, MoIC Deputy Minister Do Quy Doan affirmed that the state management agencies will make every effort to create a fair playing field for domestic businesses.