Young people play games at Vietnam GameVerse which kicked off on Saturday (April 1) at the Phú Thọ Indoor Sport Stadium in HCM City. VNS Photo Thu Hằng

HCM CITY — More than 15,000 online game lovers visited Vietnam GameVerse on its opening day on Saturday (April 1) at the Phú Thọ Indoor Sport Stadium in HCM City.

The first ever game fair, a two-day event, features 20 booths set up by leading companies such as VNG, VTC, Gosu, Gamota, OTA Network, Garena, and Funtap.

It has five zones: Game Expo, Game Forum, Game Workshop, Game Arena, and 2023 Game Awards.

The Game Arena competitions will be the highlight of the event, with a Truth Arena game contest taking place on the first day and Liên Quân Mobile on the following day.

The Game Awards featuring 14 categories, including Game of the Year, excellent publishers, products, services, communities, teams, and gamers, will be held alongside the event.

Vietnam GameVerse is organised by the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, online newspaper VnExpress and the Việt Nam Game Union.

Lê Quang Tự Do, head of the authority, which  is under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said the ministry sought to increase revenues from the rapidly growing gaming industry to US$1 billion from the current $600 million within the next five years.

There are currently 30 enterprises in the gaming industry, and the number is expected to grow to 100-150 in the next five years.

Around 400 start-ups will enter market in the next few years.

The ministry has worked with Tôn Đức Thắng University, FPT University, University of Technology, and many others to train human resources for the industry.

In Việt Nam, there are 28.4 million game players on electronic devices, or 30 per cent of the country’s population. —VNS