VietNamNet Bridge - Reduced gamers’ interest and increased negative behaviour have created huge challenges for the development of Vietnam’s online game market.

Gaming firms are being squeezed on a number of fronts

Online gaming has become one of the biggest phenomenons in Vietnam’s IT marketplace, reaching its peak period in 2006 and 2007. But since the beginning of this year, the sector has been experiencing various hiccups.

The universal issue of inflation has seen online games be regarded as a luxury.

“Earning money was much easier before, so I could spend hours a day to play online games, but now as my own company is developing and competition is getting tough, I have had to abandon that time consuming hobby,” said Trinh Anh Duong, director of a communications company.

Younger gamers are not directly affected by inflation, but receive less allowance from their parents. Meanwhile, many online games have been on the market for some time such as Swordsman Online and Audition. Le Nam, an owner of a gaming hub in the Hanoi’s Thanh Cong neighborhood, said: “Although my business has been getting better recently due to the summer school holidays, the general results so far of this year are not as good as last year. I receive fewer customers and they play for less time than before.”

The situation of gamers playing for profit is no brighter. As inflation soars, online “virtual” currencies and products have become more costly, while demand is not as strong as before. Items like weapons, tools or jewelry in popular games such as Swordsman Online or Thien Long Bat Bo were once highly tradable and worth thousands of dollars.
Because virtual products represent an attractive profit, a number of gamers now look for dishonest methods to gain them.

“I’m getting tired of moving up step-by-step while others can hack in and become much stronger than me overnight,” said Nguyen Hoang Anh, a 16-year-old Swordsman Online player. “Besides, the operation of some online games is now becoming less stable due to bugs and attacks, which makes them less enjoyable.”

One of the biggest incidents of this type was a series of attacks on the Thien Long Bat Bo game system last month. It appeared that a player hacked the system and illegally acquired 39 top-level (level nine) jades worth at least $2,000 each, which are used to boost players’ strength. Before that, the most precious jade ever acquired in the game was only level six. Meanwhile, other hackers have sneaked into the game’s broadcasting system and broadcasted junk messages to the whole community.

Thien Long Bat Bo is not alone. Since the beginning of this year, many other online games have experienced similar problems, forcing them to eliminate huge numbers of accounts.

In March, Asiasoft eliminated 17,495 Cabal Online’s accounts due to suspicion that their owners used illegal tools or methods such as hacking or bots. Last month, Vietnam Game and Digital Content Business Club member companies, including Asiasoft, VinaGame, VTC Game and Quang Minh DEC, eliminated another 47,000 accounts. Not only the number of game accounts is reduced, but the number of games provided on the market is also on the verge of being cut, as authorities appear to be tightening games policies.

The Ho Chi Minh City Information and Communications Department early this month appealed to the Ministry of Information and Communications to reassess the content of eight online games. These include five online card games Baccarat, Black Jack, Baduki, Seven Poker and Gostop provided by Thai Binh Duong Company and three violent games namely Sudden Attack by VinaGame, Special Force by FPT Online and Cross Fire by VTC Intercom.

(Source: VIR)