Southeast Asia has always been the "backyard" for Chinese mobile games going overseas, with a huge market space.
Vietnam ranks fifth in game revenue in Southeast Asia and third in population, making it one of the fastest-growing mobile game markets in the region.
From January to September 2023, the total in-app revenue in the Vietnamese mobile game market reached $202 million, roughly unchanged year-on-year; total downloads reached 1.643 billion, a 2% decrease year-on-year.
DataEye and DianDian Data jointly conducted a report covering market conditions, social culture, and creative buying.
I. Vietnam Mobile Game Market Data
Vietnam's GDP in 2022 reached $406.5 billion, with a nominal growth rate of 9.9%, and a per capita GDP of $4110 (higher than the Philippines, lower than Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia).
(A) User Volume and Characteristics
Approximately 77.93 million people in Vietnam use the internet, accounting for 79.1% of the total population, with a year-on-year increase of 7.3%. As of January 2023, the total population of Vietnam was 98.53 million (50.6% female, 49.4% male), ranking third in Southeast Asia.
As of January 2023, Vietnam had 77.93 million internet users, with an internet penetration rate of 79.1%. Vietnam's internet user growth is among the highest in Southeast Asia. From 2022 to 2023, the number of internet users in Vietnam increased by 5.3 million (+7.3%).
The average age in Vietnam is 32.7 years, with a relatively young population structure; 52% of the population is under 35 years old.
In 2022, 9.3% of Vietnam's population was 65 years old and above, beginning to enter an aging society (the world standard for aging is when the population aged 65 and above reaches more than 7%).
93.1% of Vietnamese netizens play games, with a mobile gamer base of about 60 million. Out of the total population in Vietnam, 77.93 million can access the internet, about 79.1%. 93.1% of Vietnamese netizens play online games, 82.7% on mobile phones, a decrease of 4.5% year-on-year, meaning there are about 60 million mobile game users in Vietnam in 2023.
(B) Revenue
1. By Time Dimension
The revenue for the first three quarters reached $202 million, roughly unchanged year-on-year. From January to September 2023, the total in-app revenue in the Vietnamese mobile game market reached $202 million, roughly unchanged year-on-year. (data source: DianDian Data)
Looking at the platforms, the revenue share between Apple and Google in the Vietnamese mobile game market is close to 6:4, with Apple's share continuously rising. From January to September 2023, Google's share showed a slight downward trend, while Apple's share slightly increased.
2. Top Mobile Game Revenue Rankings from January to September 2023
Vietnamese mobile game market: Competitive, strategy, and role-playing games performed prominently. From January to September 2023, the top revenue mobile games in Vietnam were mostly competitive, strategy, and role-playing games, and many were large DAU products performing well in the Southeast Asian market.
Lilith's "Rise of Kingdoms" was the highest-grossing game in Vietnam in the first three quarters of the year. The Vietnamese version of "Honor of Kings" and "PUBG Mobile" ranked second and fourth, respectively, published by Garena and VNG.
Mostly older games, with only two new entries: "MU: Tr ng Vàng V H n" and "Honkai: Star Rail."
Chinese manufacturers' self-developed products performed prominently in Vietnam (7 games), followed by European and American manufacturers (3 games) and Southeast Asian local manufacturers.
(C) Downloads
1. By Time Dimension
The download volume for the first three quarters reached 1.643 billion times, a 2% decrease year-on-year. From January to September 2023, the total download volume in the Vietnamese mobile game market reached 1.643 billion times, a 2% decrease year-on-year.
Looking at the platforms, over 80% of the downloads from January to September 2023 were concentrated on Google, but Google's download volume showed a downward trend (-7%), while Apple's increased (+26%).
2. Top Mobile Game Download Rankings from January to September 2023
Vietnamese market downloads: Casual and large DAU competitive games ranked at the top
From January to September 2023, the top downloaded mobile games in Vietnam were mostly casual games, and large DAU competitive games also performed well.
Chinese products had good download performance in Vietnam, with 5 domestically produced mobile games in the top 14 downloads. The Vietnamese version of "Honor of Kings" ranked first, Yuan Di Software's music game "Piano Fire" ninth, "PUBG Mobile VN" eleventh, and two games from the Talking Tom series also made it into the top fourteen.
Mostly older games, with only one new entry. A casual music rhythm game "Duet Cats" developed by Vietnamese startup Amanotes ranked thirteenth.
II. Vietnamese Social and Cultural Concepts
(A) Human Nature
Shares commonalities with most Asians. At the most basic level of human nature, Vietnamese people are not very different from Chinese people. Vietnam and China both belong to the Asian cultural sphere and are both of the Mongoloid race, with a group-living nature that is generally calm and steady. Influenced by its climate, the Vietnamese character is relatively cheerful and enthusiastic.
(B) Historical and Cultural Concepts
1. Traditional Culture
Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with 54 ethnic groups, with the Kinh (also known as Viet) as the main ethnic group, accounting for 86.2% of the total population, and the Chinese population accounting for about 1% of the total population.
Vietnamese is the official language, as well as the common language and the main ethnic language, with some residents speaking English.
2. Religion/Spiritual Culture
The Vietnamese constitution allows for freedom of religious belief. According to official statistics from the Vietnamese government, as of 2014, there were 24 million people with religious beliefs in Vietnam.
Buddhism holds a dominant position, with nearly 11 million followers, followed by Catholicism with about 6.2 million followers, Cao Dai with over 4.4 million followers, 1.4 million followers of Protestantism, 1.3 million followers of Hoa Hao, and 75,000 Muslims. Traditional Confucian thought and Eastern values dominate the social ideology in Vietnam.
(C) Contemporary Trends and Aesthetics
1. Aesthetic Preferences: Likes green, avoids white, black, and indigo at the beginning of the year and month
Vietnamese people like green, and Vietnamese men like to wear green hats, with darker colors indicating deeper blessings. Green hats have patriotic, wealth, and status connotations.
At the beginning of the year and month, it is taboo to wear white, indigo, or black clothes, as these colors are the colors of mourning clothes. Wearing white, indigo, or black clothes at the beginning of the year and month is feared to be an ominous sign. During this period, it is appropriate to wear beautiful, bright colors such as red, yellow, and green.
Game promotional posters are mainly in Vietnamese.
2. Popular Social Apps: Facebook, Zalo, and TikTok
Facebook is the favorite social app of Vietnamese netizens, followed by Zalo (Vietnam's largest social app, similar to China's WeChat), with about 90% of users frequently using both apps.
TikTok ranks third, with its user base growing to about 78%.
Facebook-related products hold an important market share among Vietnamese internet users. FB Messenger and Instagram are fourth and fifth, with more than half of the users frequently using these platforms.
DISCORD ranks 13th, with about 13% of users frequently using DISCORD.
3. Digital Content Purchases: Mobile applications, music downloads, and movie/TV streaming services are the top three
The types of digital content purchased by Vietnamese people include mobile applications, music downloads, and movie/TV streaming services, which are the top three, with respective year-on-year changes of -6.3%, 13.1%, and -4.5%.
Mobile games rank fourth, with 25% of internet users paying for mobile games each month, an increase of 2.5% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of growth rate, music downloads saw the largest increase, with a year-on-year growth of 13.1%. Mobile applications saw the largest decrease, with a drop of 6.3%.
(D) Taboos
Taboos: Mainly related to etiquette and living customs
Etiquette taboos: It is not allowed to point with feet, sit on the ground with feet facing people, or step over someone sitting or lying down, as it is considered disrespectful. Shoes must be removed when entering a house, otherwise, it is considered disrespectful to the host. Do not touch someone's head casually, including children. It is taboo to use the left hand for greeting, eating, giving, and receiving. Vietnamese people avoid taking photos with three people, and it is not allowed to use a match or lighter to light cigarettes for three people continuously, as it is considered unlucky.
Living taboos: It is taboo to sit with one's back to the altar; it is taboo to wear a conical hat indoors; it is taboo to lay the bed mat upside down; it is taboo to clean the house at the beginning of the year; at the beginning of the year and month, avoid saying words that may bring bad luck, such as "monkey" or "death"; it is taboo to praise a child for being fat.
Other: The number "3" is taboo in Vietnam.
III. Buying Ads
(A) Placement Volume
1. Vietnam Placement Volume Trend from Q1 2022 to Q3 2023 (Deduplicated Material Volume)
From January to September 2023, the material volume in the Vietnamese market increased significantly compared to the same period last year, intensifying the competition for buying volume. Three factors drove the further increase in material volume:
First, there were more new games this year, significantly boosting the growth in material volume;
Second, casual games increased their buying efforts, such as "WePlay," "Block Blast!" and "Super Mouse," which saw a surge in placement volume;
Third, represented by Glacier Networks' "X-HERO," main and sub-gameplay games launched a large number of sub-gameplay materials, leading to an expansion in material volume due to the lower unit price and more diverse materials for the target audience.
2. Deduplicated Materials by Game Category
From January to September 2023, the highest material volume in Vietnam was for hyper-casual games, followed by gambling and role-playing games. The top three game categories accounted for about 48% of the total material volume in Vietnam.
3. Material Type Situation (January to September 2023)
Platform: AND/IOS≈8:2, Android devices have a high usage rate in Vietnam.
Material form: Video/Image≈7:3, video format is more popular in the Vietnamese market.
Real-person material ratio: Non-real person/Real person≈4:1, the ratio of real-person materials is 20%, higher than about 8% in mainland China.
