As the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds, many entertainment venues, including internet cafes and Cyber Games across the country, have collectively closed to comply with the disease prevention campaign.
However, recently, distributors of computers and Cyber owners have come up with a new business model to maintain income during the pandemic, which is renting out PCs, consoles, or even laptops.
Just by typing “PC rental” on Facebook, gamers can find numerous posts about renting PCs, PS4s, or XBOXes, with a wide range of prices mainly ranging from 50,000 to 70,000 VND/day, and there are even places that rent out old PCs for as little as 10,000 VND/day.
However, for gamers who only need a machine to play League of Legends – the most popular game right now, a rental setup priced at 10,000 VND/day is enough to try-hard, featuring 4 GB RAM, 60 GB SSD, and 1 GB graphics card… if they rent an additional monitor, the price goes up to 15,000 VND/day.
However, not every gamer shows interest in this business trend. The issue lies in the deposit amount. To rent a PC setup for 10,000 – 15,000 VND/day, customers will have to deposit around 5 million VND.
The target audience for PC and Console rental services mainly includes those who do not have the means to own personal computers. These individuals are mostly students or people with low to moderate incomes, making it quite challenging to gather the deposit of up to 5 million VND (although this amount will be refunded at the end of the rental contract).
Moreover, the rental machines are mostly old, so there is a possibility of encountering risks or malfunctions. Some PC rental establishments have committed to implementing warranty policies for customers to feel more secure in case of equipment issues.
Overall, this is quite a “bold” move by distributors and Cyber Games businesses, as the closure of service facilities has inevitably affected the economy, but instead of sitting still, businesses have adapted by developing a rather novel service.
Despite some shortcomings as mentioned above, this is still a quite effective tool for entertainment needs at home during this pandemic. For just 10,000 VND or more, gamers can smoothly play League of Legends all day at home, complying with the requirement to limit going out while still having the chance to try-hard comfortably. Therefore, overall reports indicate that PC Gaming or PS4 rental services are still receiving many orders from gamers, partially solving the economic challenges for distributors and Cyber owners during the pandemic.
