The good and bad of Vietnam’s GameFi boom

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When I was pursuing my communications diploma, smartphone game Flappy Bird – created by Vietnamese developer Nguyen Ha Dong – was all the rage. My classmates and I would play the game during breaks between lectures, aggressively trying to fly the titular bird and dodge the green pipes to register the highest score.

Flappy Bird has been long gone, but Vietnam’s gaming scene has produced other sensations. Recently, blockchain-based game Axie Infinity has taken off in Southeast Asia, and the studio behind it, Sky Mavis, has achieved unicorn status.

This has sparked a massive GameFi wave in Vietnam, which is poised to be an early mover in the sector. Since the cryptocurrency world has had some shake-ups recently, it’s too early to say if GameFi will propel Vietnam’s tech scene to new heights.

Today we look at:

• What’s going on in Vietnam’s tech scene
• A blockchain-focused climate tech startup
• Other newsy highlights such as Didi’s potential delisting and Oyo’s IPO plans

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Beyond Vietnam’s GameFi boom

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Buoyed by the success of Axie Infinity, GameFi has taken off in Vietnam, prompting a shift in its tech industry. The GameFi boom has presented the country’s tech companies with opportunities to get ahead in the space, and in blockchain more generally. But the tech industry is also at a crossroads, given the recent events in the crypto world.

• The talent crunch: It’s extremely challenging to hire quality developers in Vietnam. The spike in demand for talent from remote tech positions and blockchain and GameFi projects has driven up salaries for all tech employees, and the brain drain from Web2 to Web3 is here to stay.

• The power of FOMO: Vietnam is currently in a “sweet spot” for the next wave of startups, but the FOMO (fear of missing out) effect of crypto and GameFi is proving to be a distraction. Some feel that resources could have been better used by other teams that want to build other stuff on blockchain, rather than just GameFi. Additionally, the GameFi boom has led to an abundance of low-quality copycats.

• Built to last? While the downfall of the TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna token has sent shockwaves across the industry, many are still bullish on the potential in the space. Others, however, have set their sights on ventures in Vietnam beyond the world of blockchain.

Read more: The pitfalls of Vietnam’s GameFi sensation

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