HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM: While much of the global gaming industry continues to focus on crowded, high-cost markets, a quieter opportunity is taking shape in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, known collectively as the CIS region. For Vietnamese mobile game developers, this region is beginning to look like a natural fit—especially when the New Year holidays roll around.
New data from advertising company Yango Ads show that gamers across the CIS follow a surprisingly reliable pattern each year. During the eight to ten days of public holidays around New Year, gaming activity jumps sharply at every stage—from searching for new games to downloading and actively playing them.
Searches for gaming content climb fast, often reaching their highest point of the entire year. That curiosity doesn’t stay idle for long. Downloads rise at the same time, peaking between Jan 2 and 9, when people have more free time, spend longer on their phones, and are more open to trying something new.
“What makes this pattern especially valuable for developers is its predictability,” said Thư Nguyễn, Business Development Manager at Yango Ads Vietnam. “The same surge appears consistently across both the 2023 – 2024 and 2024 – 2025 holiday cycles, making January one of the most reliable growth windows for gaming apps in CIS.”
Beyond the holiday spike, the region’s gaming tastes also line up neatly with what Vietnamese studios do best. Players in Eastern Europe and Central Asia tend to favour polished, lightweight, mobile-first games—an area where Vietnamese developers have built a strong global reputation.
Genres like puzzle, match-3, casual, simulation, and hybrid-casual games consistently perform well, Thư noted. Combined with high smartphone usage and an active online population, the CIS region offers more than just large audiences. It offers players whose habits and preferences genuinely match the strengths of Vietnamese studios.
Just as importantly, these markets are not yet overwhelmed by competition. Unlike Tier-1 regions, where user acquisition costs are soaring and creative fatigue is setting in, CIS countries still give developers room to experiment, scale, and grow without fighting costly bidding wars.
The timing couldn’t be better for Việt Nam’s gaming industry. As Xsolla points out, local studios have already shown they can build games with global appeal—from casual hits to clever puzzle titles enjoyed by players around the world.
Technology plays a crucial role as well. With the right adtech partners and automated optimisation tools, Vietnamese developers can test and scale campaigns without setting up local offices or dealing with complex administrative hurdles. AI-driven systems can adjust budgets in real time, improve creative performance, and help studios fully capitalise on high-conversion periods like the New Year holidays.
“Việt Nam’s game developers have already shown that they can build global hits,” Thư said. “The next stage of growth will depend on choosing markets where timing, culture, and user behaviour create natural pathways to scale. Eastern Europe and Central Asia stand out as one of those rare regions, offering predictable seasonal peaks, lower competition than traditional Tier-1 markets, high-intent players, and the most cost-efficient UA window of the year.”
Instead of battling for increasingly expensive users in saturated markets, Vietnamese studios may find a smarter path forward by looking west. In the CIS region, the New Year holiday is more than just a celebration—it’s a well-timed opening to the next chapter of Việt Nam’s global gaming story.
