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Online Games Published in Vietnam: Licenses and Content Limits

3 min readFLAT LAW FIRM

Online game publishing in Vietnam draws huge foreign interest — especially from Korea and China — but is also the sector most often stuck on licences: however good the game, without a content approval decision and the right publishing licence it cannot open commercial servers, however ready the market demand is.

The licensing and content frame for online games

  • Games classified by interaction level — Decree 147/2024/ND-CP (replacing Decree 72/2013/ND-CP): online games are classified G1 to G4 by player interaction; G1 games (multiplayer via servers) need a game service provision licence plus content and script approval.
  • The publisher must be a licensed Vietnamese enterprise — foreign games published in Vietnam must go through a licensed Vietnamese enterprise; foreign developers participate through publishing cooperation contracts, licensing the game to the local partner instead of operating directly.
  • Content limits — game content must not breach the prohibitions of Cybersecurity Law 24/2018/QH14 and game management rules: imagery and content touching territory, history and religion are examined during script approval; games must carry age-rating labels.
  • Operating conditions attached — publishers need player-information management systems, play-time limits for under-18s, payment through lawful payment gateways, and servers and data storage as prescribed.

Bringing a foreign game into Vietnam

  1. Choose a local publishing partner holding (or ready to obtain) a G1 licence, with a clear licence-and-revenue-share contract including what happens if content approval fails.
  2. Prepare the approval dossier: localised script and game content, server technical plan and player management system — sensitive content localisation must happen before filing, not after a correction request.
  3. Budget approval time per content review round into the launch plan; do not promise a synchronised global launch date before the Vietnamese dossier returns a result.

Online games in Vietnam are a sector where ‘content decides the licence’. Successful foreign investors pick the right licensed local publisher, localise sensitive content early, and treat script approval as part of the product development schedule — not a last-minute administrative formality.

Frequently asked questions

How many licences does game publishing need?

By game type: G1 games need a game service licence plus content and script approval under Decree 147/2024/ND-CP; G2-G4 types face lighter procedures by classification.

What content is prohibited?

Content breaching the Cybersecurity Law and game rules: distorted territory or history, religious offence, excessive violence — examined during pre-launch script approval.

Must foreign games publish through a Vietnamese partner?

Yes: foreign games must be published through a licensed Vietnamese enterprise; the foreign developer joins by cooperation contract, licensing the game locally.

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