Japan’s largest entertainment showcase, Tokyo Game Show 2023, was announced in an online conference by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) on February 28. Applications for exhibitors were opened on the same day.
CESA, along with Nikkei Business Publications and Dentsu Inc, will be holding the Tokyo Game Show from September 21 to 24, 2023, at the Makuhari Messe. Business Day will take place on the 21st and 22nd, and the event will be open to the public on the 23rd and 24th. In addition, Tokyo Game Show VR 2023 (TGSVR2023), held in virtual space, will be extended an extra week after the in-person event and is scheduled to be open until October 1.
Estimated to be largest hybrid event in history, the in-person event will encompass Makuhari Messe Halls 1-11, the International Conference Hall, and every event hall for the first time in 4 years. Over 2,000 booths and 200,000 attendees are expected. TGSVR2023 will allow participation via smartphone. The official broadcast will be simulcast on various platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, and Nico Nico Video. Real-time English and Chinese live streams will also be broadcast. In addition, Steam will set up a special website to support purchasing and free trial versions of games presented at the showcase.
New installations this year include the Gaming Hardware Corner, which exhibits gaming PCs and peripherals while taking into account the diversification of ways to enjoy games and the expansion of the extent of game creation, and the Gaming Lifestyle Corner, which showcases gaming furniture and gaming rooms. The previous “Game School Corner” will be renamed as the “Game Academy Corner”. It will be made easier for a wide variety of educational institutions that teach and produce gaming personnel, including high schools, technical colleges, trade schools, universities, graduate schools, and research facilities to become exhibitors.
Furthermore, the organizer’s corner, named Creator Lounge, will be newly installed as well. Here influencers can live stream or edit videos, in addition to creator management companies being offered exhibition space. The cosplay area will also return, and a stage for live appearances by prominent streamers and cosplayers will be prepared.
The Family and Kids Area will return after 4 years. A programming area for learning the fun of creating games with the themes of “Learn” and “Play,” a job experience area to learn about working in the game industry, and a game area with various titles for parents and children to play together, will all be set up.
Other events include the announcement and award ceremony for each category of the Japan Game Awards, Sense of Wonder Night, in which eight groups selected from among 80 free indie game exhibitors will give presentations, and the TGS Forum, which will occur during the 2 Business Days.
The Business Meeting area has been expanded to accommodate the many requests for face-to-face international business meetings during Business Days. All business meetings can be held in a hybrid environment of both in-person and online. The international party is planned to be brought back as a place to promote international exchange as well. Support for coming to Japan regardless of border control measures will be provided.
The regulation that required the use of a barrier sheet to separate the temporary visitor control area from the general aisles when the area in front of the stage became congested, has been abolished. In addition, the guidelines for exhibiting and displaying other companies’ products and services have been partially changed.
The deadline for exhibitor applications is May 26. Tickets for visitors are scheduled to go on sale in early July for the general public and late July for businesses. In addition to a significant relaxation of the ticket limit, admission for children elementary school age and younger will also be permitted this year.
Haruhiro Tsujimoto, CESA Director and Chairman of the Event Committee, stated, “Last year, 140,000 people visited the real event for the first time in three years. We have implemented a hybrid event with online distribution programs and VR projects that can be attended and enjoyed from afar and at any time. The Tokyo Game Show has evolved into an exhibition like no other.” The theme of this year’s show, “Games Move, the World Changes,” was meant to “convey the message that games, as one of Japan’s key industries, are making a stronger impact on the world,” explained Tsujimoto.