According to Statista, the global esports market size was $4.3 billion in 2024. For the Vietnamese market, Statista estimates revenue of $7.2 million in 2025 and $10.4 million in 2029 with an impressive annual growth rate of 9.72 percent.

The number of electronic entertainment participants in Vietnam currently stands at about 28.2 million, or 28.7 percent of the population. The number of esports followers is around 18 million and continues to grow.

With such potential, FPT has drawn attention in the past two years by investing in esports, sponsoring two teams: GAM Esports and Team Flash.

It also established professional esports clubs at FPT Polytechnic and FPT Retail, and now organizes a series of events and tournaments related to esports.

On August 22, during the launch of XGS-PON Wifi 7, FPT Telecom surprised again by introducing FangTV, a live streaming platform focused on esports and online games.

The platform is entirely developed and operated by Vietnamese, supported by top technologies from FPT and international partners.

It will focus on exclusive content and tournaments, especially when Vietnamese teams compete in international arenas outside domestic publishers’ frameworks.

Hoang Viet Anh, Chair of FPT Telecom, said, during the group’s 35th anniversary, that President Truong Gia Binh had asked all subsidiary leaders what they would do in the next 10–15 years to retain and attract customers in FPT’s ecosystem.

Anh shared that the customers in 10-15 years will naturally be today’s youth. FPT must create images and values that bond with them.

FPT invests in education and has entered the healthcare sector, while it still stands outside the entertainment industry, so it decided to inject money into esports and online games.

Anh estimated that Vietnam has about 18 million livestream followers, and currently 25–26 million Vietnamese youth are actively playing or fans of online games and esports.

Two years ago, FPT launched a group-wide action program called the FPT Group-level Esports Program.

It covers five main areas: organizing domestic and international competitions; producing content, with FangTV as a key component for esports content production; investing in talent and competing teams; expanding partnerships to bring major game-related brands, esports, and gaming equipment to Vietnam; and training human resources for Vietnamese esports.

These are the five areas FPT has entered in the past two years, and in 2025, FPT’s action programs will be implemented after a period of learning and preparation.

FPT’s esports image is visible in the Vietnamese fan community, and soon it will push forward connecting FPT’s products and services into the esports ecosystem.

FPT’s entry into the billion-dollar esports market can be seen as a long-term strategy. In Vietnam’s current market, the esports community is largely controlled by publishers who also own the competing games; thus, the success in the domestic market will depend significantly on FPT’s collaborations with other publishers.

FPT previously published online games and hopes it has enough experience to enter esports.

Nguyen Tran Son from VNGGames said Vietnam’s advantages in esports development include its youthful population, strong gaming culture, and shifting societal perceptions as esports gains prominence in major events like SEA Games and ASIAD.

Esports is also reshaping stereotypes about gaming, creating jobs in streaming, marketing, and events, while promoting culture through community engagement.

Son noted that Vietnam can leverage esports for digital economy growth, citing the 2022 Worlds event in San Francisco and New York, which generated a $53 million economic impact.

Esports also fosters a new job ecosystem for the digital economy. Globally, the industry generates tens of thousands of jobs in content creation (streamers, video editors), event organization, software development, and marketing. 

In Vietnam, esports is gaining recognition and advancing in education, with formal and specialized training programs to meet the rising demand for skilled professionals. University of Technology and Management became the first in Vietnam to offer an esports training program based on the UK’s BTEC standard, while the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology began enrolling students in a game-focused major in September 2024.

Le My