Outperforming nearly 60 other game projects, “Hoi An Kien Su” (Hoi An VR) by CLICK Studio from DTU has been ranked among the Top 5 best game projects at GameHub 2025.
“Hoi An Kien Su” designed by CLICK Studio of DTU - Photo: DTU
60 Projects registered
GameHub 2025 is jointly organized by the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, the Vietnam Game Developers Association, VnExpress newspaper, and FPT Online.
From nearly 60 original entries, a panel of experts consisting of leaders from renowned game publishers selected 16 projects to proceed to the evaluation round. In this round, each team presented a summary of their game, gameplay mechanics, competitive advantages, development roadmap, and received expert advice on the best approach for future stages.
The Vietnam GameVerse 2025 event officially took place on May 26, 2025, offering top projects the opportunity to present more in-depth pitches to convince the panel, investors, and potential backers.
Some 3D scenes in "Hoi An Kien Su" - Photo: DTU
In the end, the Top 5 best projects were named: Hoi An VR, Agents of doom, Just a shadow game, Return to childhood and Ursid.
Recreating Ancient Hoi An in VR
“Hoi An Kien Su” left a strong impression on both the expert panel and the gaming community at GameHub 2025.
The product provides a virtual reality experience using Oculus Quest, recreating the ancient town of Hoi An with historical events, lifestyle elements, and cultural depth from over 400 years ago, including the wedding of Princess Ngoc Hoa and Japanese merchant Araki Sotaro. It is not just an entertainment game but an educational-cultural product aimed at presenting Vietnam’s World Heritage Site in a lively, modern, and accessible way.
Direct experience on phone - Photo: DTU
Through a gentle role-playing mechanism, players explore the old port town. The game is suitable for various audiences including tourists, students, and museum or school visitors via a virtual reality (VR) environment.
With gameplay lasting 20–30 minutes, players take on the role of the main character and complete missions related to Hoi An’s historical context from over four centuries ago. The storyline is cleverly integrated, allowing players to both enjoy the game and learn history naturally.
Mr. Truong Son - producer of CLICK Studio, DTU introduces the game at Vietnam GameVerse 2025 - Photo: DTU
During the production process, many standard technologies of the global video game industry were applied by the CLICK Studio team. During development, CLICK Studio applied various global game industry-standard technologies, including motion capture (optical MOCAP) for character animation.
Character movement animation using optical MOCAP in “Hoi An Kien Su” - Photo: DTU
The project involved 20 team members including 2D/3D artists, environment designers, effects specialists, and programmers from DTU. The creative team brought over 10 years of experience in visual effects and graphic production to ensure top-notch quality in every development phase.
Producer Truong Son of CLICK Studio shared: “We deeply understand the growing importance of cultural and historical values in this era of global integration. This project was created to preserve and promote Vietnam’s traditional culture while portraying the old town of Hoi An in the most authentic and vivid way.”
The CLICK Studio team researches and designs "Hoi An Ki?n S?" at DTU - Photo: DTU
CLICK Studio designed the ancient town with creativity - down to the scenery, architecture, local people, and animals from that historical period. Unlike commercial games designed to keep players engaged for long hours, “Hoi An Kien Su” focuses on short but impactful experiences tailored for tourism, exhibitions, and educational use.
The documentary project "Vietnam Air Combat" in 2019 - Photo: DTU
It follows a “one-touch” gameplay model - providing enough emotional depth in a single playthrough for players to remember a vibrant, ancient Hoi An, executed at the Silver Swallow Studio (SSS)
The simulation project was developed at DTU Silver Swallow Studio and in DTU modern media and imaging labs. DTU Silver Swallow Studio previously gained recognition with its 2019 documentary project “Vietnam Air War,” which portrayed the first battle between the Vietnamese Air Force and the U.S. Navy and Air Force in Ham Rong on April 4, 1965.
(Media Center)