Students at a gaming festival in Da Nang city in November 2023 (Photo: VNA) According to the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information directorgeneral Le Quang Tu Do, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)aims to increase the industry’s revenue to 1 billion USD in its 2022-27 gamedevelopment strategy.
Key areas of focus in this plan include expanding the number ofbusinesses in the industry and joint training programmes with educationalinstitutions.
While game design courses have been offered at more than 100colleges across the world, the major is relatively novel to most universitiesin Vietnam.
A majority of the Vietnamese gaming industry’s workforce wastrained in information technology (IT), software development or graphic design.
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In January this year, tech company Sconnect opened its SconnectAcademy of Media Arts (SAMA) which specialises in animation and game design.
Meanwhile, FPT Polytechnic College announced that its two-yeargame programming course will be open for enrollment starting this admissionseason.
The Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT) isalso offering an undergraduate degree in game design this September and isexpected to receive 200 students in the first cohort.
Speaking to Kinhte Sai Gon (The Saigon Times) online newspaper, the institute directorDang Hoai Bac said educational games are a focus of this programme, which hasbeen designed to keep up with market trends.
It will also provide training in creative thinking and knowledge so thatstudents can enter the global gaming industry workforce.
PTIT is the second higher education institution in the country to offer anundergraduate degree in game design, the first being RMIT University Vietnam in2022.
Designed based on a similar course offered at RMIT University in Australia, theprogramme follows a project-based approach to equip students with skills invarious aspects of design and production, including digital project management,programming and scriptwriting.
A survey conducted by RMIT also showed Vietnam’s gaming industryis witnessing exponential growth, but significant investment in human resourcesis required for sustainable industry development.
According to the study, the industry in Vietnam reached 12trillion VND (482 million USD) in revenue in 2020, more the twice the figure in2015.
By number of downloads, Vietnam is among the top 10 gamedistributors in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, according to areport by the data platform App Annie.
Vietnam is also considered a major gaming centre in the region withapproximately 430,000 game programmers working in local and multinationalcompanies, but there are few designers.
Most of the studios in Vietnam are operating in a softwareoutsourcing model, carrying out tasks related to graphic design, programming orcloning.
This approach brings back large profits in the short term but doesnot allow these companies to make a breakthrough in the global market. There isalso a lack of designers capable of creating an entire game title on their ownfrom start to finish.
According to an RMIT University Vietnam representative, many ofthe locally made games were created without innovative thinking, leading tolacklustre products.
Vietnam needs to invest and develop a game industry workforce thatis capable of identifying and solving problems, elevating the sector to becomea pillar of the future digital economy.
Training for designers must equip them with the necessary skillsand ability to adapt to the ever-evolving technologies.
Sharing the same perspectives, director of Aptech ComputerEducation in Vietnam Chu Tuan Anh said that a thorough game design course mustbe based on three factors, which are insights into the Vietnamese andinternational market; industry experts among the teaching staff; andprofessional opportunities and support for students.
According to Nguyen Ngoc Bao, director general of VTC - a major gamedistributor in Vietnam, there is a large demand for human resources in thecountry’s IT sector, including the gaming industry.
Meanwhile, a gap remains between the capacity of programmers and industrydemands, with only 30% of IT students meeting the skill requirements ofcompanies, he added.
With more universities offering degree courses in this field, it isexpect that the negative social prejudices on games will change and theworkforce demand for the gaming industry will be met./.
VNA
