Esports highlights at GameVerse
Accordingly, VNGGames in coordination with the Southeast Asian Electronic Sports Federation (SEAEF) and the Vietnam GameVerse organizing committee organized the SEA Esports Nations Cup (SNC) - the first national team-level esports tournament in Southeast Asia, gathering 87 athletes from 11 countries.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information - Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism emphasized: "This year, the dream of turning Vietnam GameVerse into an international event, a destination of the world game industry has come true. For the first time, the components of the Vietnamese game ecosystem have been fully connected, including 5 entities: State, Game Developer, Game Publisher, School and Esport Publisher.
The Vietnamese game industry is having favorable timing - geographical advantage - and people's harmony, and this is a great opportunity to accelerate development. We hope international partners will not only come to learn, but also come to cooperate, invest, and develop with us. For domestic game companies, this is a great opportunity for the Vietnamese game industry. Let's all unite, tighten hands, shoulder to shoulder, and help each other reach out to the big sea.
Making Vietnam a regional e-sports connecting point
Currently, although Esports has been officially included in competition at the most recent SEA Games (31, 32, 33) and ASIAN Games 19, this "young" sport still lacks a continuous and specialized competition system specifically for the national team level.
National Esports teams in Southeast Asia mainly still participate in competitions according to events such as the SEA Games or some separate international tournaments, without annual arenas to accumulate international competition experience and develop sustainably.
In that context, the SEA Esports Nations Cup tournament is expected to fill this gap, gradually forming a competition system with full structure, unified standards and a long-term roadmap, creating a premise for the country's Esports to get closer to major sports arenas such as ASIAD or even the Olympics.
According to Mr. Do Viet Hung, Chairman of the Southeast Asian Electronic Sports Federation (SEAEF): "The SEA Esports Nations Cup is an opportunity for Vietnam to contribute to a common regional initiative where countries cooperate to build a long-term structured and oriented Esports competition system. The core value of the SNC tournament is not in a single country, but in the companionship and contribution of the entire Southeast Asian region.
In the first season, all 4 sports are organized with 6 medal-winning contents, including: PUBG Mobile, Teamfight Tactics, Crossfire: Legends and Total Football VNG. The total prize value of the first season of SNC is 41,000 USD (equivalent to more than 1 billion VND).
Esports is creating a widespread chain of economic value globally, from streaming, marketing - advertising, event organization to cultural promotion, professional sports competition. In Southeast Asia, Esports awareness reached 94%, higher than Europe (85%), according to IMARC.
The global eSports market in 2025 also reached a revenue scale of up to 3 billion USD, with a compound growth rate of 19% per year, according to Business Research Company. Southeast Asia alone achieved a revenue of 77.4 million USD in 2025 and is forecast to increase to 154.9 million USD in 2034, with a compound growth rate of 7.62% per year.
In Vietnam, there are about 28.2 million people who have been and are participating in electronic entertainment activities, accounting for nearly 30% of the population, according to Statista. Domestic eSports revenue is also predicted to reach 10 million USD by 2030.
