Nippon.com takes a have a look at the Tokyo Sport Present 2026, held in close by Chiba in late September this yr. What does this storied gathering have to inform us in regards to the current and the way forward for the online game scene in Japan and elsewhere around the globe?
Video games as a Cultural Business
The Tokyo Sport Present, one of many world’s largest gaming occasions, was first held in August 1996. It was an period when a wave of next-generation consoles was hitting the market, and the inaugural present was an enormous success, drawing greater than 100,000 guests over the three days it was open to most people. Since then, attendance has by no means fallen beneath 100,000, besides in 2020 and 2021, when the occasion moved on-line because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, TGS attracted 298,690 guests over 4 days. The variety of exhibitors has additionally continued to develop, rising from simply 87 on the first present to a file 1,138 in 2026.
Business dignitaries collect to kick off the 2026 present. (Courtesy CESA)
However TGS was meant to be greater than only a commerce present. Masuda Tsutomu, managing director of the Pc Leisure Provider’s Affiliation, which organizes the occasion, explains that its aim was “to develop video games into a significant trade with cultural worth.”
CESA was established in 1995, the yr earlier than the primary TGS, and its members embrace representatives from corporations throughout the sport trade. Masuda himself spent a few years working in advertising at Capcom and has been concerned with TGS as an exhibitor as effectively. As TGS marks 30 years alongside the expansion of gaming tradition, we glance again at its historical past via Masuda’s recollections.
Masuda Tsutomu, who oversees TGS. Throughout his time at Capcom, he dealt with promotion for titles together with Resident Evil and Monster Hunter. (© Nippon.com)
An Period of Fierce Console Competitors
When TGS was first held in 1996, Japan’s residence console market was within the midst of a significant transition. Nintendo’s Tremendous Famicom—marketed overseas because the Tremendous NES, or Nintendo Leisure System—had as soon as dominated the scene, however a brand new technology of {hardware} able to producing high-quality 3D graphics was now competing for gamers. The Nintendo 64, Nintendo’s successor {hardware}; the Sega Saturn, which used optical discs; and Sony’s authentic PlayStation had been battling for market share whereas additionally increasing gaming’s draw to a much wider vary of age teams. “It was an period when main titles might promote greater than 1,000,000 copies in Japan alone,” Masuda recollects.
The centerpiece of the inaugural TGS was the restricted distribution of a demo disc for Last Fantasy VII, the extremely anticipated newest entry within the in style collection, which was due for launch the next January. Even earlier than the present, the sport had attracted huge consideration for transferring from the Tremendous Famicon to the PS1 and making full use of 3D laptop graphics. Lengthy strains fashioned on the sales space for an opportunity to attempt it. That anticipation translated into large gross sales when FFVII was launched. Its placing visuals additionally captivated gamers in Europe and North America, and worldwide gross sales finally surpassed 10 million copies.
The primary TGS ended on a excessive notice, demonstrating the occasion’s promotional energy whereas establishing considered one of its biggest sights—the possibility to expertise extremely anticipated video games earlier than anybody else. On the second TGS in April 1997, the CESA Awards had been held for the primary time. The awards, which later grew to become the Japan Sport Awards and are nonetheless organized by CESA at the moment, named Sakura Wars because the yr’s high title. TGS subsequently started happening twice a yr, additional strengthening its presence inside the sport trade.
The inaugural TGS venue. (Courtesy CESA)
Getting into the 2000s, the console market shifted to one more technology. New methods such because the Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo’s GameCube, and Microsoft’s Xbox arrived one after one other, providing dramatically improved graphics capabilities. On the similar time, nevertheless, the variety of sport titles launched annually started to say no after peaking shortly earlier than the flip of the millennium. As {hardware} grew to become extra highly effective, sport improvement took longer and prices rose, slowing the tempo of releases throughout the trade.
Masuda, who was an exhibitor on the time, recollects: “The truth was that it was troublesome to arrange for 2 occasions a yr, together with producing demo variations of recent video games.” To provide exhibitors a clearer alternative to showcase what they needed to advertise and to strengthen the general focus of TGS, the occasion was consolidated right into a once-a-year format starting in 2002. It has since been held within the fall, timing it immediately with the essential year-end and New 12 months gross sales season.
Guests watch demonstrations of recent Xbox and PS2 video games at TGS 2001 Autumn. (© Reuters)
The Shift to Cellular and PC
In Europe and North America, PC gaming grew steadily from the Nineties, as private computer systems grew to become extra widespread, via the 2000s, when digital distribution started to take off. Japan, nevertheless, remained a stronghold of devoted gaming {hardware}, with residence consoles accounting for round 90% of the market till the latter half of the 2000s. Demand for handheld methods additionally grew alongside residence consoles. Starting with the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Transportable in 2004, handhelds more and more featured wi-fi connectivity. When the favored PS2 franchise Monster Hunter was dropped at the PSP, gathering with mates for cooperative play grew to become a significant development.
The explosive unfold of smartphones within the 2010s remodeled gaming habits as soon as once more. Cellular video games took heart stage, permitting gamers to obtain video games of their selection as apps and play them anytime, anyplace.
Across the similar time, general-purpose sport engines grew to become more and more frequent in software program improvement, making it simpler to launch video games throughout completely different {hardware} platforms. Consoles such because the PS4 additionally adopted architectures nearer to these of PCs. Consequently, sport improvement more and more shifted towards a multiplatform mannequin, with titles launched throughout a number of sorts of {hardware}, together with smartphones and PCs.
Whereas gaming continued to determine itself as an on a regular basis type of leisure, Japan lagged behind in esports, a discipline centered largely on aggressive on-line PC gaming. TGS has labored to broaden the bottom {of professional} gamers and followers by holding esports tournaments and different occasions geared toward selling the scene.
“We’ve additionally centered on the attraction of watching video games, corresponding to the joy generated by in style streamers offering dwell commentary,” Masuda says. “Curiosity in esports is steadily rising, as proven by its inclusion as an official medal event at this year’s Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya.”
The e-Sports activities X skilled gaming competitors has develop into one of many highlights of TGS. (Courtesy CESA)
Utilizing On-line Platforms to Develop into a International Hub
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 marked a significant turning level for TGS, because the occasion was held totally on-line for the primary time. Though particular person exhibitors had streamed their very own video content material earlier than, TGS launched its official programming that yr, and a hybrid format combining an in-person occasion with on-line protection has since develop into the norm.
“As a result of TGS is held in Chiba, most guests often got here from the larger Tokyo space,” Masuda says. “One surprising profit was that we created an atmosphere the place folks from farther away, together with abroad, might take part in actual time extra simply.”
On-line entry affords clear benefits, however TGS remains to be an annual pageant that brings collectively sport followers from around the globe. A part of its attraction lies in experiencing the power of the venue firsthand, making an attempt newly launched video games and cutting-edge {hardware}, and having fun with demos with top-quality visuals and sound.
“For exhibitors, with the ability to hear customers’ impressions and opinions immediately and feed them again to the event groups can increase motivation and assist enhance high quality,” Masuda says. “Occasion levels even have a very completely different environment when you’ll be able to really feel the viewers’s reactions firsthand.”
Lately, rising curiosity in gaming environments has additionally led TGS to develop its sections dedicated to gaming chairs and peripherals. The All Accessibility Space, launched in 2025, drew specific consideration for a brainwave controller permitting folks with restricted use of their arms to play video games. As expertise continues to advance, the variety of exhibitors has grown, and new classes have continued to emerge.
TGS has additionally helped broaden the pool of expertise coming into the sport trade, not simply its participant base. From an early stage, the occasion has featured devoted areas for instructional establishments corresponding to technical schools and IT-related packages at universities, in addition to for unbiased sport builders.
One other initiative geared toward nurturing future creators is CESA’s Household Sport Park. Kawamura Kentarō, who oversees the world, explains: “Kids of junior highschool age and youthful can benefit from the space freed from cost, together with the adults accompanying them. By way of experiences corresponding to programming and sound creation, we hope to spark their curiosity in careers within the sport trade.”
Indie video games are additionally showcased via devoted areas and competitions. (Courtesy CESA)
The Sport Academy Space brings collectively instructional and analysis establishments concerned in sport improvement. (Courtesy CESA)
On the Household Sport Park, youngsters who’ve grown up with programming as a required college topic, significantly in Japan, can play and be taught alongside their gamer dad and mom. (Courtesy CESA)
As we speak, Japan’s main sport corporations generate 70% to 80% of their gross sales abroad. At TGS, greater than half of exhibitors now come from exterior Japan, significantly from elsewhere in Asia. The occasion’s position has progressively shifted from unveiling new titles for the home market to showcasing gaming tradition from around the globe.
Whereas the venue could also be way more worldwide than it was 30 years in the past, however the environment stays the identical, with everybody there sharing a love of video games.
“After I see folks of all ages and from every kind of backgrounds having fun with video games, I’m reminded of this style’s energy to carry folks collectively,” Masuda says. “I hope sport followers abroad won’t solely watch the net broadcasts, but additionally come and expertise TGS in individual.”
Cosplayers add to the joy on the venue. (© Stanislav Kogiku/Sopa Photographs through Reuters Join)
CESA’s Masuda (left) and Kawamura. Each turned their ardour for video games into careers within the trade. (© Nippon.com)
Knowledge Sources
(Initially revealed in Japanese on September 10, 2026. Banner picture: The present ground of the Tokyo Sport Present 2024. © CFOTO through Reuters Join.)