After COVID, overseas fans set to flood Tokyo Game Show

The Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is all set to welcome thousands of overseas fans when it starts on Thursday for its first show since Japan lifted its COVID-19 travel curbs.

Nonetheless, the fervor could be dampened by a lack of updates from Japanese gaming giants such as Sony or Nintendo, despite the boom in attendance.

According to the event’s organizers, the four-day exhibition will feature a record 700 exhibitors and nearly 3,000 booths. A total of 200,000 visitors are expected, an increase from nearly 140,000 in 2022, when the event was forced to limit the number of visitors due to COVID restrictions.

The hybrid show — which will run both online, and on-site in Chiba, a city located to the east of Tokyo — is the Japanese video game industry’s flagship trade fair. Earlier this month, the organizers said that the TGS will occupy the entire Makuhari Messe events complex for the first time since 2019. The organizers also noted that the ever-popular cosplay area was also making a return for the first time since the pandemic.

But neither Sony nor Nintendo will take part in the TSG. Instead, the two major game companies announced their major holiday title releases during their own online events last week. 3.3 million people turned to Nintendo Direct on its U.S. channel, while 1.3 million people watched Sony's State of Play. Visitors visiting TGS will be able to test out a few of their games.