Visitors photograph an Endless Dungeon cosplayer at the Sega booth at The Tokyo Game show in Chiba, Japan, on Sept. 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
CHIBA, Japan — The much-anticipated Tokyo Game Show 2023 kicked off Thursday, back in full force after the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, more than 2,600 booths are showcasing over 2,200 individual titles; that’s more than 800 booths and 400 games than premiered at last year’s event.
Streamers, content creators and industry professionals only were admitted to the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba for business Thursday and Friday. Doors open Saturday and Sunday for the public.
This show is the first in four years that the event organizers had the entire event center, according to an email from game show management on Thursday.
The four-day Tokyo Game Show is an annual event where video game developers and publishers show off their upcoming titles and give attendees an opportunity to play the games well before the official release.
The Tokyo Game Show returned in full force for the first time since 2019 at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, Japan, where a visitor played Elemental World on Sept. 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
The Tokyo Game Show opened with ceremony at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, Japan, on Sept. 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Visitors trial-play KOEI's Fate Samurai Remnant at The Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, Japan, on Sept. 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Booths set up by larger studios typically have life-size replicas, cosplayers and other items from their games, which helps draw the attention of the thousands streaming through the convention center.
This year, some of the biggest booths were for Square Enix, the developer behind the Final Fantasy franchise; Capcom, which developed the Monster Hunter franchise; and Konami, which pumped up attention for its Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection that releases in October.
In addition to visiting the show’s many booths, eventgoers can sit in on various conferences where representatives for industry giants like Valve, Microsoft and Sony announce games and discuss the industry.
For those that can’t attend in person, the game show has a virtual reality version that is accessible through the Tokyo Game Show website.
The Tokyo Game Show has been an annual event since 1996 and has only grown in scale since its inception.
Attendees turned out in droves for business and professional day at The Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, Japan, on Sept. 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Hundreds of thousands are expected at The Tokyo Game Show 2023, where rows of game players tried out KOEI's Fate Samuri Remnant at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba on Sept. 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
