One thing must be admitted, the net shop business in Hanoi has never been so gloomy. Under the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, internet cafes are considered to be a place with a significantly higher risk of infection because this is a place where there are quite a lot of people, potentially posing a great risk of disease spread. Therefore, from the end of April 2021, a series of internet shops, from ‘grass net’ to computer rooms in the capital, are in the ‘closed and bolted’ scene.
After nearly a year, from 0:00 on April 8, 2022, the Hanoi People’s Committee has officially allowed electronic game and Internet stores in the capital to reopen.
As noted by the reporter, a number of large net room chains in Hanoi welcomed a large number of guests on the first day of reopening, if not literally ‘jubilant’.
VK Gaming – a famous chain of computer rooms in Hanoi witnessed a crowded scene in the early hours of the morning.
Some players even had to wait a long time because they ran out of machines on the first day this series of rooms reopened. Compared to the time when the large net room chains in Hanoi were always in a state of silence because of COVID-19, this is definitely a scene that makes restaurant owners … ‘heartwarming’.
“During the time when the shops were closed due to the epidemic, I myself also invested in a PC case to play my favorite games at home. But when I heard that net shops in Hanoi were allowed to reopen, I immediately invited my friends to come and play at the shop this morning. In general, the feeling of shouting and playing games with friends at the bar is still more interesting than playing alone at home“, Hoang Tan Minh, a CS: GO gamer shared.
At the time before the COVID-19 epidemic took place, VK Gaming operated a series of facilities throughout Hanoi. However, the impact of having to ‘close the door’ for 1 year caused this machine room chain to close its facilities in Ha Dong and Kham Thien in turn by the end of 2021 and is currently only operating 1 facility. in Hoang Hoa Tham (Hanoi).
Like VK Gaming, GMX – another big cybergame chain in Hanoi also welcomed a large number of guests on the first day of opening. At the facility on Cau Giay street of this machine room chain, nearly 90% of machines are always full.
With a number of PCs of several hundred, most of the machines are already occupied. Notably, this is only 10 am – that is not the peak time of the shop when the main customers are students – students are still going to school.
“The 1-year inactivity caused many of the shop’s PCs to fail. Meanwhile, the old staff of the restaurant had retired, so I considered starting over. My opinion is that the event is to show gratitude and attract new customers, so the machines, facilities and services must be very good to dare to think of doing events for customers.“, shared Mr. Nguyen Manh Tuan, GMX chain manager.
“The cost of my house is partially supported, but with such a large number of establishments, it is also extremely difficult. I still have a maintenance fund, but it is gradually running out, besides cash, there are many expenses for personnel and electricity and water. I don’t think I can last that long“, replied Mr. Tuan when asked about the difficulties in maintaining business operations when interrupted by COVID-19.
Commenting on whether customer behavior will change after 1 year of internet shops closing because of the epidemic, Mr. Tuan affirmed that many gamers have tended to switch to playing games on their phones more, along with buying themselves. machine to experience at home.
However, Mr. Tuan also said that the fact that many game shops had to completely stop doing business could also be considered an advantage, when the level of competition was no longer as fierce as before. In other words, the reduced ‘supply’ will help the remaining machine rooms after the epidemic to attract more customers.
However, not every large engine room in Hanoi can ‘survive’ and resume operation after 1 year of shutdown. The high cost of renting a location is the biggest challenge that causes large machine rooms to ‘fall down’. The case of P. Cyber Game can be mentioned, when the facilities of this machine room were closed and returned to the premises, while the official fanpage was in a state of ‘im lim’ from 2021 up to now.
This is also the common situation of many large and heavily invested machine rooms, not only in Hanoi but also in some other provinces. At the time of October 2021, many shop owners had to liquidate their stores because they could no longer afford to maintain after 6 months. Some are even forced to take advantage of available computer resources to mine cryptocurrencies to remove some capital and endure the pandemic.