Most popular mobile esports games 2020, by number of downloads

In 2020, the battle royal game Garena Free Fire reigned as the most downloaded eSports game in Vietnam, at over 18.2 million downloads. This was followed by Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile, at respectively 14.65 and 9.58 million downloads. Garena – the Singaporean-based publisher of Garena Free, alongside VNG, one of Vietnam’s leading game publishers, dominated the country’s mobile eSports market with the highest numbers of game downloads that year.

Vietnam’s booming gaming industry

As of 2021, Vietnam is among the countries with the highest gaming penetration rate, with a gaming reach of over 91 percent. In that year, the revenue of the Vietnamese video game market reached 280 million U.S. dollars, with the largest share attributable to the mobile game segment. Vietnam’s dynamic video gaming industry is anticipated to thrive even more in the years to come, grossing approximately 516 million U.S. dollars by 2026.

The future of esports

On par with Vietnam’s casual gaming scene, the Vietnamese eSports industry has been witnessing substantial growth for the last few years, with rapidly increasing numbers of both eSports players and viewers. Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest number of active eSports players, recording 452 competitive players as of 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic spurring compulsory lockdowns and social distancing, more and more people are turning to video games in general and eSports in particular, thus driving increased investments in the global eSports industry.