Previously it was difficult for Chinese businesses to distribute games to Vietnam as they had to set servers here, and the distribution was affected by the transmission line quality and language barriers. And they had to make payments.

But nowadays, they can easily distribute games to Vietnam through app stores. They provide versions in Vietnamese to make it easier for gamers to play.

With servers in clouds and the transmission line quality improved, gamers in Vietnam do not face obstacles to access the games from China.

Both Apple and Google support the payment for the games uploaded to their stores, so Chinese businesses don’t have worries about payment. Vietnamese gamers now can hand in money to pay games, and the money goes directly to game distribution companies in China.

Many games have been distributed directly, such as Genshin Impact of miHoyo Limited, Illusion Connect of Superprism, Three Kingdoms: Globar War of ZBJoy Games, Wannabe Chanllengae of Com2uSz, and Raid: Shadow Legends of Plarium Global..

Genshin Impact is one of the games with the highest revenue at this moment.

Analysts believe that Chinese businesses can easily distribute games in Vietnam because Vietnamese businesses lend a hand to them.

With a number of domestic e-wallets linking direct payment with App Store or Google Play, domestic users can easily buy online games as well as in-game items.

The payment is very simple. One just needs to use smartphones to make payment and money will be deducted from their e-wallet or pre-paid/post paid subscriber accounts.

Chinese games are also supported by Upay with payments. At Upay’s payment portal integrated into games, including Genshin Impact, Vietnamese users can pay for games with telecom scratch cards, GATE or Zing cards in addition to payment with credit cards.

VietNamNet reporters tried to hand in money for Genshin Impact through the cards integrated into the game, and the transactions via upay365.com were reported successful.

Sources said that the owner of Upay invited Chinese businesses to join their payment channel and committed that all payments will succeed.

Vietnamese game firms have expressed concern over the easy penetration of Chinese games into the domestic market.

While they have to bear strict management from state agencies and observe regulations, Chinese games do not have to ask for permission, do not have to have their content approved, and do not have to set servers in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the state has failed to collect tax from these Chinese games as money goes directly to Chinese game companies or distributors.

In fact, the problem has existed for many years and many Vietnamese game firms have to leave the market because they cannot compete with the imports. 

Phuong Nguyen

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