Vietnam Is the World's Most Downloaded Market. Ho Chi Minh City Is Betting on Esports to Keep It That Way.

Insights from the Scaling Business Summit 2026, Ho Chi Minh City.

Le Cao Sy, from the Communication Technology Division of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications, was the only government speaker on the main stage and the one carrying the most data. His session was a market briefing combined with a policy roadmap: where Vietnam's gaming and esports industry stands today, and what Ho Chi Minh City is building toward 2030.

1. The Numbers Are Not Projections. They Are 2025 Actuals.

According to Google's 2025 report, Vietnam ranked first globally for app downloads on Google Play and third worldwide for total downloads behind only China and the United States. Vietnam's gaming market generated approximately $430 million in 2025. The broader digital download market reached $1.6 billion, with 1.3 billion game app downloads recorded.

Within Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Indonesia are the two primary growth engines. Vietnam's specific edge is developer talent, studios have already achieved international distribution in hyper-casual games, making it both a consumer market and a production base.

Lesson 1: Vietnam is a top-three app download market globally. Any strategy treating it as emerging is working from an outdated map.

2. The Revenue Model Has Shifted. Advertising Is No Longer the Business.

The dominant model for casual games was advertising: high downloads, monetize through in-app ads. That model is under pressure. Ad revenue no longer supports development costs at scale. Many titles with strong download numbers generate no meaningful advertising revenue at all.

The shift is to direct in-app commerce, virtual items, level unlocks, cosmetics, progression mechanics. Q1 2025 data confirmed the direction: core games expanded revenue while casual games surged on downloads, with the dividing line being the presence of in-app purchase mechanics.

Lesson 2: If your gaming model is built on advertising revenue, recalculate. Design monetization before you design the game.

3. Hyper-Casual Is the Entry Point, Not the Destination

Hyper-casual games drive Vietnam's 1.3 billion annual downloads. They are also where Vietnamese studios are most competitive internationally. But they are not the primary revenue layer.

Thailand and the Philippines lead Vietnam on per-user spending in RPG and esports titles, categories where players spend significantly more per session. Vietnam's download volume and developer talent create the acquisition base. The ceiling comes from converting that base into higher-engagement, higher-spend products. The city's esports infrastructure investment is, in part, a bet that organized competitive gaming is how that conversion happens at scale.

Lesson 3: Use download volume to build your user base. Build the mechanics that convert casual players into spending ones.

4. The Government Has a Roadmap to 2030 and It Is Specific

Ho Chi Minh City has formally classified esports within the cultural industries sector and published a strategic roadmap running from 2026 to 2030. The economic logic: Vietnam's gaming market is projected to reach $712 million by 2029, with 70% of revenue generated by approximately 12 million active mobile players.

The city's strategy positions Ho Chi Minh City as the regional anchor for esports infrastructure, events, and production. For investors, the signal is direct, the government has moved esports into an active policy portfolio, which means regulatory attention, potential incentives, and an institutional counterpart for operators engaging at the policy level.

Lesson 4: When a government formalizes a sector in its strategic roadmap, entry costs drop and scale barriers drop with it. The 2026-2030 window is open now.

The CEO Execution Playbook: What to Do Tomorrow

1. 1. Calculate your share of a $712M market. If you operate in gaming, entertainment technology, hardware, or content, map what 1% of Vietnam's projected 2029 market means for your revenue model.
2. 2. Audit your monetization model. If it relies on advertising, identify which in-app commerce mechanics fit your game type. Redesign the revenue layer before it becomes a crisis.
3. 3. Evaluate Vietnam as a development base, not just a consumer market. Get rate cards from two or three Vietnamese game studios. The hyper-casual export track record is real. Test whether your product roadmap can use it.
4. 4. Start the policy conversation. If your business is in gaming, esports, or interactive entertainment, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications has a formal contact point for investors in the cultural industries roadmap. That conversation is worth having before the window closes.

→ Watch the full session on YouTube