by NGA PHAM
Dien Bien Phu 7554 is a PC game based on the famous battle of that name that saw the end of the French occupation of Vietnam in 1954
When the PC game Dien Bien Phu 7554 was launched six months ago, its Vietnamese developers Emobi Games felt a great sense of triumph and achievement.
Hailed as “first next-gen box game” made in the country, Dien Bien Phu 7554 was also the first Vietnamese PC game to be built in modern 3D graphics.
“Up to now, what most companies do is import foreign-made games and reversion them for the Vietnamese market, ” says Nguyen Tuan Huy, director of Emobi Games.
“Our aim is to get Vietnamese gamers to play Vietnamese games.”
It took Mr Huy, 32, and his team two years to develop the game, the plot of which is based on the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu that saw the end of the French occupation of Vietnam in 1954.
In this offline game, players take on the roles of Vietnamese soldiers fighting a “sacred war” to free their land.
However, despite the seemingly winning combination of nationalistic pride and modern 3-D technology, Dien Bien Phu has failed to bring in any profit.
Having sold only 5,000 copies in Vietnam and 500 overseas, Emobi Games generated an income of only 1bn Vietnamese dong ($50,000), roughly 6% of the investment put into the game.
“The Vietnamese public still don’t have much trust in domestic products,” admits Nguyen Tuan Huy.
But he insists that for him and his team, the game remains “our success”.
“We have proved that Vietnamese can be innovative and original,” Mr Huy says.
British Broadcasting Corporation for more