[VNExpress] Virtuos: Vietnam Has What It Takes to Break Into the AAA Game Segment

Vietnam faces challenges in developing AAA games due to high capital requirements and lengthy production cycles. Still, co-developing with strong partners could lead to major breakthroughs, according to the leadership of Sparx*.

Sparx* – a Virtuos Studio, is a Vietnam-based studio that is no stranger to global blockbuster entertainment projects — from Hollywood films and TV series to AAA games.

On the sidelines of the Vietnam GameVerse 2025 event, Camille Thomas, the studio’s General Manager, shared her thoughts with VNExpress on Vietnam’s position in the global AAA game industry and the studio’s vision after 30 years of growth.

Camille Thomas – General Manager of Sparx* – a Virtuos Studio

Having participated in the production of major international entertainment projects over the past 30 years, how does Sparx* assess the capabilities of talent in Vietnam’s creative industry compared to the region and the world?

Vietnam’s entertainment content production industry is undergoing a significant transformation, increasingly contributing to large-scale international projects, particularly in 3D graphics, visual effects, and animation. A notable example is the game Marvel’s Midnight Suns, for which the team at Sparx* was fully responsible for producing all cinematic sequences. The game scored 83/100 on the review aggregator Metacritic, serving as a strong testament to the potential and quality of Vietnam’s graphic design workforce. Their key strengths include youth, dynamism, technological proficiency, and openness to global integration.

What is your opinion on the fact that many domestic game companies consider the shortage of high-quality talent a major obstacle to growth?

According to forecasts from various agencies and organizations, Vietnam will need up to 30,000 workers in this sector within the next 2–3 years. This is a common issue faced by emerging game markets.

In New Zealand, for example, nearly one-third of surveyed game studios reported difficulties when recruiting programmers. Although the demand for high-quality talent in the gaming industry is rising, there are still very few structured training programs in Vietnam for specialized fields like game programming, game design, or game graphics.

Game production companies, therefore, need HR strategies that combine recruitment with vocational training, and promote career opportunities in games to young domestic talent. These elements are essential to building a sustainable talent pipeline for the entire industry.

AAA games are the goal of many major game developers around the world. In your opinion, where does Vietnam stand in this race?

Vietnamese developers have achieved remarkable success in the mobile segment, consistently ranking among the top five globally in terms of downloads. Despite that, we need to acknowledge that Vietnam is still in the early stages of its journey toward producing AAA titles.

Developing a tripple-A game requires substantial investment—often in the hundreds of millions of dollars—and a workforce of hundreds or even thousands of professionals working over several years. Take Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, for instance, a game in which Sparx* contributed to the graphic production. The project reportedly had a budget of around $300 million.

For studios with no prior experience in AAA development, the challenges go beyond funding. Building a team with the necessary expertise and acquiring the right technology infrastructure are major hurdles.

In this context, domestic studios may consider co-development as a viable model. By collaborating with experienced partners who have successfully delivered large-scale projects, Vietnamese studios can scale up and accelerate production timelines—while keeping their core teams lean and focused on their strengths, such as creative design or publishing.

This collaborative approach could be a shortcut for Vietnam’s game industry to reach the AAA milestone faster. Companies like Sparx* and Virtuos, with our extensive hands-on experience and talent pool, are eager to support Vietnamese developers on this ambitious path.

What are some of the key milestones in Sparx*’s journey?

Sparx*’s evolution mirrors the broader rise of Vietnam’s digital entertainment industry. Since the mid-1990s, when international animation studios—especially from France—first began opening additional units in Vietnam, Sparx* emerged as a trailblazer, laying the groundwork for a digital content production sector in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2008, we became the first in Vietnam to lead animation production for a Hollywood feature film, Igor.

A major turning point came in 2011, when Sparx* joined Virtuos, one of the world’s largest game development service providers. Becoming part of this global ecosystem enabled a complete restructuring of Sparx*’s production capabilities, allowing it to meet the rigorous standards of AAA game development.

Over the past five years, bolstered by collaboration with other Virtuos studios, Sparx* has moved beyond a supporting role. Today, our teams can handle the full spectrum of art content production—from character design and level creation to cinematics—contributing to some of the industry’s biggest titles, including League of Legends, Demon’s Souls, and one of this year’s most anticipated releases, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

Camille Thomas shared her insights during a panel discussion on talent strategy for game companies in Vietnam, held in May 2025.

From a studio originally focused on animation to now producing in-game content, what goals has Sparx set for the near future?*

Sparx* is actively expanding its expertise by setting up dedicated game design and programming teams. This allows us to collaborate more closely with other studios within Virtuos’ global network and offer increasingly comprehensive co-development solutions to our partners.

Our long-term commitment to talent development and attraction, supported by a strong foundation of internal policies and the global resources from Virtuos, is key to our ambition of becoming a hub for AAA game development and technology transfer in Vietnam.

The original interview was published on VNExpress (in Vietnamese) on May 30, 2025.