VietNamNet Bridge – A series of IT firms, big and small, have jumped into the online game market because they believe this is a profitable job. However, it is always not easy to make money.

Rushing to make games

The number of online games firms has increased rapidly from several firms in 2010 to 40 in the first half of 2013, while a series of games makers are expected to join the market in the second half of the year.

VNPAY, known as an e-commerce firm, has launched Huyen Thoai Anh Hung (the legend of a hero) game. Vat Gia has also made investment to develop games by injecting money in ABT Vietnam which has made debut with Vuong Quoc Than Thoai (the mythological kingdom)

VNPT PAY, a subsidiary of the “big guy” Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT), a payment service firm, has also jumped on the bandwagon

The online games market has become so attractive that it has lured both the start ups and the giants. Gamers have whispered in each others’ ears that VGG is the new power of the games village. Especially, VGG is a start up, but it has the stature of a giant with the heavy investment and the experienced staff who once worked for VTC Game.

Sources have said that An Vien Telecom and Media Company (AVG) are also considering joining the online games market.

Profitable, but hard job

Analysts believe that in the current difficult conditions, making games is considered the most profitable business.

Luong Cong Hieu, Director of Vivoo, a software firm, said online gameing is a profitable industry thanks to the young Vietnamese population which has high entertainment demand.

Hieu has also noted that the current conditions are favorable for the development of the game industry. These include the increasingly high number of Internet and broadband users in Vietnam.

Besides, the domestic games market is far from the saturation point. The hardware devices such as smart phones and tablets have opened new markets for the game industry.

Le Phuong Dong, Managing Director of 5 Stars Mobile Game Company Limited, while agreeing that this is a profitable business, has warned that this is “a hard nut to crack.”

The director of a game firm admitted in the past, his firm could earn at least tens of billions of dong a month from a game. However, the high income was obtained at the time when there were few game service providers. Meanwhile, the “game community” has become so crowded with so many suppliers.

Also according to the director, a firm would have to make heavy investment to develop games. The royalty of a game costs $50,000-100,000. Besides, it has to employ 15-20 workers to do the business, not including technicians, pay for the Vietnamization, media and marketing campaigns…, which costs nearly VND1 billion more.

If everything goes smoothly, a game can bring VND2 billion in turnover and more, of which 20 percent would be paid the manufacturer. The “life expectancy” of a game is short nowadays. A good game can exist for six months, while a bad product would be eliminated after 3 months.

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