Apple has told game developers they must now be registered with Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication for their games to be accessible in Vietnam through its App Store, according to a press release from the US firm. The press release links to an MIC website that details the requirements for registering to provide gaming services including establishing a local entity, creating a local website, and using at least one local server.
Needless to say, there is a lot of work that will now need to go into providing video games in Vietnam and for a lot of smaller studios this won’t be a viable option.
Of note, back in June of last year the Steam video game platform was blocked because it had failed to register with the MIC. It was speculated at the time that this may have been a move to protect local game developers, VNG, for example. That said, a few months later, VNG’s offices were raided by the authorities, though why specifically is still not clear.
That is to say, that the gaming industry seems to be facing increasing scrutiny more broadly. This, however, could be problematic as Vietnam attempts to present itself as tech-friendly to attract high-tech manufacturing investments, given that video games are a huge component of the global tech sector. Moreover, the kind of people that work in tech are generally inclined to enjoy playing video games and notice and take and interest in these kinds of developments.
See also: Video Games in Vietnam