All to play for in Vietnam’s blossoming esports arena

All to play for in Vietnam’s blossoming esports arena - Illustration phot. Photo: freepik.com

Southeast Asian esports firm Ampverse this month announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in Vietnamese esports organisation SBTC Esports. The acquisition comes at a time when esports viewership continues to accelerate globally with the craze rapidly becoming the preferred channel for brands wanting to engage with hard-to-reach online audiences during the pandemic.

Matthias Beyer, chief gaming officer of Ampverse, told VIR, “As a regional company headquartered in Singapore, we have been expanding across Southeast Asia - firstly in Thailand and now Vietnam. We believe Vietnam is a very exciting market with huge potential for growth in esports given the popularity of playing games and consuming gaming content in the market.”

“Vietnam has some of the strongest esports players, not only in Southeast Asia but also globally,” Beyer added. “We look forward to helping amplify this talent onto the global stage and also support the growth of the Vietnamese esports ecosystem,” he said.

Ampverse’s expansion into all markets is anchored around working with a leading local esports team that they want to develop to grow both in success ‘on the pitch’ as well as commercially. “As we elevate our teams, we help leverage our experience in marketing and advertising to help brands realise the value of esports by connecting them to our esports teams and gaming talent,” explained Beyer.

SBTC Esports currently fields two professional teams in League of Legends and Wildrift. It also operates an SBTC academy, providing funding, support, and a professional environment for young aspiring gaming talent across Vietnam.

SBTC Esports is the most popular team in the country, according to leading third-party analytics company, Esports Charts. It averaged over 80,000 live viewers across the entire League of Legends Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) Spring 2021 season, the highest of any team in Vietnam.

Three months ago, US pro-gaming and entertainment company NRG Esports announced a partnership with CMG.ASIA to acquire GAM Esports, the defending champions in the VCS. NRG Esports has a vision to create a national team for Vietnamese esports.

With the acquisition of GAM Esports, the current VCS League of Legends Champions and 5-time titleholders, NRG Asia will be providing top quality training, resources, and infrastructure to elevate GAM’s prospects of bringing home the first League of Legends world championship to Vietnam.

TK Nguyen, CEO of NRG Asia, said, “With the expansion of NRG into Southeast Asia, we are excited to begin this new journey headquartered here in Vietnam. Our goal is to elevate GAM from being Vietnamese champions to leading world championship contenders by providing them additional resources and knowledge from top esports leaders.”

Singaporean-based Team Flash is also looking to ramp up operations in Vietnam to tap into the potential of the esports market. Team Flash is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing franchise, empowering talented competitors to pursue a professional career in gaming. The organisation has thus far invested in talent and infrastructure across both countries.

The business model is still developing as monetisation is still early in the Vietnamese market. However, Team Flash has seen significant revenue growth, particularly in the streaming rights of players, which means they double up as influencers and content creators instead of simply gaming.

According to the 2021 Vietnam Electronic Sports Whitebook conducted by Vietnam Recreational eSport Association (VIRESA), esports is recognised as a professionally organised form of competition supervised by referees. Players can be from amateur or professional backgrounds, and tournament locations can range from local internet cafes to large-scale stadiums. The esports ecosystem provides for many businesses that are forming and growing to support each other such as renting out venues, organising tournaments, creating online content, and offering sponsorship and advertising.

Nguyen Quang Dong, director at the Institute for Policy Research and Communications Development, believed that esports is already a prosperous business industry. In order to help Vietnamese enterprises reach their full potential in this industry, the legislation blockages of licensing content moderation and copyright protection will soon have to be removed. “Besides that, each enterprise participating in the industry must focus on providing customers safety and benefits in the hope that people will have a clearer view of the esports scene,” Dong said. “A boost from suitable changes in policies and legislation is likely to make esports a spearhead in Vietnam’s growing digital economy.”

VIRESA general secretary Do Viet Hung said in Esport Talk “Myths of Esports” hosted by Vero that Southeast Asia including Vietnam has seen the fastest growth in esports globally with a compound annual growth rate of 20 per cent. Even the organisers of SEA Games 31 officially announced that esports would become one of the 40 medal sports, demonstrating its rise to reach parity with traditional sports.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has signed Decision No.28/QD-TCTDTT promulgating a law on esports competition, slated to be finalised at the end of this month. From that, a legal framework will be developed in regards to the country’s esports market.