Game manufacturers now can see big business opportunities after the government expressed its support to the development of purely Vietnamese games and educational games.

It is estimated that there are 60 games in circulation, most of which are action role playing games. However, analysts have noted that many new types of games, such as webgame, social game and educational games have appeared; while the proportion of domestic games has also been increasing gradually.

This shows the big changes on the game market, where games have been classified to target different clients. Especially, in recent years, online educational games have cemented their position in the market.

Educational games awaited

An expert said that previously, enterprises did not make heavy investment in online educational games, though these are the most awaiting products in the society, because the businesses only considered short term benefits.

However, enterprises may have changed their thoughts when realizing that the demand for online educational games has been increasing every hour.

Nguyen Trong Duong, Director of the Information Technology Department of the Ministry of Information and Technology, said that the ministry encourages the production of purely Vietnamese games, especially educational and cultural games. The manufacturers would get tax exemption for the first four years and offer tax incentives in the next years.

The manufacturers’ plan has been applauded by educators. Nguyen Ba Binh, Deputy Headmaster of the High School for the Gifted under the Hanoi University of Education, said that psychologically, students, who have regular brain activities, need entertainment to ease tense. Educational games are the good solution which helps them ease tense and refresh. Besides, the games, together with lessons at school, can also bring useful knowledge.

Sharing the same view, Nguyen Duy Kha, a senior official of the Examination and Quality Control Agency of the Ministry of Education and Training, said that if educational games can develop, this would help reclaim a part of young people who have been bogging down in the “virtual world,” enabling them to play and receive knowledge at the same time.

Of course, domestic educational games would also be welcomed by parents, who have been hearing too much about black games and social consequences of violent games, and have been waiting for a new fresh breath of air.

The pioneer

After a long period of paying attention to martial games, VNG has recently shifted to make online educational games. The first product of VNG in this field is “Vuong quoc chuot chui,” an online game designed for the children aged 6-12.

Besides the games for children, some enterprises have been bravely targeting another potential group of clients – students. This proves to be a market with great potentials, because it is still empty. Egame, for example, has set up an ambitious plan on developing educational games. It has announced the heavy investment of 32 billion dong to develop educational games for general school and university students.

In the latest news, after four years of preparation, the company has designed a game that gathers all necessary features of an online game which combines the achievements of the game technology, educational and entertainment features. The product is still under the testing period, but it has got good comments.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, Egame’s General Director, said that online educational game is really unfamiliar field. Egame once churned out some products, but they could not satisfy the demand of the society. Therefore, the manufacturer had to restart from the beginning.

An expert has also said that developing educational games would not fit the enterprises which only consider short term business benefits.

Kha from the Ministry of Education and Training said that the ministry is encouraging the renovation of teaching method and the interaction between learners and teachers. The idea of developing educational games proves to be useful to the implementation of the idea.

Source: VNS