HÀ NỘI — A Vietnamese-developed interactive advertising platform is making its entry into the global mobile games market as local firms seek a stronger role in the fast-expanding digital entertainment industry.

GameGeek, a domestic hub connecting the country’s gaming ecosystem, has partnered with The One Studio to launch Playable Labs, a 'playable ads' solution designed for international publishers. The technology allows users to try a game directly within an advertisement, an approach that has grown more popular as traditional video formats reach saturation.

Industry data shows the pressure facing mobile publishers. According to research firm Newzoo, the global games market is expected to reach US$188.9 billion by 2025 with mobile accounting for more than half. As competition intensifies, playable ads have emerged as a preferred format because of their higher conversion rates and stronger retention. Users acquired via playable ads often remain with a game longer, as they experience actual gameplay before installation.

Despite rising demand, many publishers still struggle to find high-quality and cost-efficient playable ads at scale, particularly as production costs increase worldwide. The developers of Playable Labs say the platform was built to respond to this gap, combining an end-to-end production service with a self-serve toolkit that allows user-acquisition teams to customise ad variants through an online dashboard.

The system enables adjustments to gameplay duration, number of moves, language, sound and call-to-action components, generating multiple network-ready versions without requiring developers to rebuild from scratch. The product is compatible with major global ad networks such as Facebook, Google, TikTok and Unity and includes multi-layer testing to ensure stable performance across devices.

Việt Nam’s competitive production costs and increasing automation have helped keep expenses lower than many international providers. GameGeek plans to distribute Playable Labs through its global partner network, including major publishing hubs such as the US, France, Turkey, South Korea, Japan and China.

Several international studios, including Voodoo, Moonee, Load Complete, Bagel Code, Lihuhu and Apero, have already used the service in their advertising campaigns.

As user-acquisition costs continue to rise worldwide, industry observers say tools that improve efficiency or boost performance are becoming essential to publishers’ strategies. The emergence of Playable Labs also reflects broader efforts to strengthen Việt Nam’s digital production capacity and create more high-skilled jobs in the domestic gaming sector. — VNS