With the death of E3, some have doubted the viability of in-person trading shows dedicated to video games, but elsewhere in the world, the demand for this kind of event remains high as proven once more by Tokyo Game Show.
Following the four days of the show between September 26 and September 29, The CESA (Japan’s Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, which organizes the event in collaboration with Nikkei Business Publications and Dentsu) sent a press release to Simulation Daily announcing that the visitor count was 274,739.
Not only this marks another consecutive year of growth following the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the 2020 edition canceled and the 2021 edition held in person only for a small number of media and business representatives.
It’s the second-highest number ever following the 298,690 visitors of 2018, beating the previous second and third-highest visitor counts respectively in 2016 and 2013.
Below you can find a breakdown of each day directly from the press release.
This means that Tokyo Game Show has effectively returned to pre-pandemic numbers and completely recovered.
The traditional trade show held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, near Tokyo, is here to stay. It will return next year between Thursday, September 25, 2025, and Sunday, September 28.
Simulation Daily attended the show, and you can expect plenty of coverage and interviews over the next few days.
Today we also saw the announcement of the games that won the Japan Game Awards Future Division.
Gamers were asked to vote online between September 26 and September 28 among unreleased games showcased at TGS, and the Japan Game Awards Selection Committee reviewed the results and picked those deemed the most promising and that received strong public support.
Many reveals came at Tokyo Game Show this year, including a new character for Death Stranding 2: on The Beach and the dating simulator Venus Vacation Prism – Dead or Alive Xtreme.
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer also teased “cool content” related to Japan coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
