Vietnam GameVerse begins in HCMC

The two-day event is being held at the Phu Tho Indoor Sport Stadium with more than 15,000 participants.

Many came early for registration and checking in. Le Quang, 26, of Binh Chanh District said he wants to visit all the game booths to look for interesting gifts.

Nguyen Binh, 23, traveled more than 100 km from Dong Nai with a group of friends to enjoy classic games of VNG, VTC, Garena and others.

He is also eagerly waiting for the live eSports match to be held Sunday.

The 3,000-square-meter stadium is divided into five zones for Game Expo, Game Forum, Game Workshop, Game Arena, and 2023 Game Awards.

The expo zone has 17 service and product booths set up by many industry giants such as VNG, VTC, Gosu, Gamota, OTA Network, Garena, and Funtap.

A number of interactive activities will take place here from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on both days.

Guests can participate in lucky draws and cosplay and perform themed games or check in and scan QR codes to receive gifts like headphones, thermos bottles, T-shirts, mouse pads, game codes, 10-piece survival kits, GamePads, and FPS game buttons.

VNG’s game booth in the Game Expo zone. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The Game Forum will see executives from agencies, game publishers and game studios and gamers discuss opportunities, challenges, trends, and other hot topics in the industry at 9:30 a.m Saturday.

At 1:30 p.m. VTC representatives will speak about the Vietnamese game market, foreign investment and support for startups in the industry in the Game Workshop.

The Vietnam GameVerse’s stage. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The Game Arena competitions will be held on both days, with a PC game Truth Arena contest on the first day at 3 p.m., and Lien Quan Mobile on the second day (2 p.m. to 4p.m.).

Both will go live on the 2023 GameVerse landing page.

The Game Awards on the evening of April 1 will unveil the winners in the top 14 award categories, including for Game of the Year, excellent publishers, products, services, communities, teams, and gamers.

The second day will begin at 9 a.m. with a Game Workshop introducing lastest game projects.

The Cosplay Contest at 9:30 a.m. will decide the winner from among the top 10 contestants.

“The size of Vietnam GameVerse is comparable to that of the major game festivals in Korea and China,” Pham Van Thanh, director of VTC Game, said.

“Domestic companies have the opportunity to exchange experiences, go global and attract investments from major global players.”

Vietnam GameVerse has been prepared since February, jointly organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications’ department of radio, television and electronic information, VnExpress newspaper and the Vietnam Game Union.