Photo/Illutration Officials cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Game Show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Sept. 25. (Shota Tomonaga)

CHIBA—The Tokyo Game Show (TGS), one of the world’s largest video game expos, opened on Sept. 25 with a record number of exhibitors against the backdrop of solid global industry growth.

Organizers said 1,138 companies were participating based on figures as of Sept. 9, with 54 percent being from overseas.

The 35th TGS at the Makuhari Messe convention center will be open to the public on Sept. 27-28 following the first two days reserved for industry members.

One addition to the event is an AI Technology Pavilion featuring companies attempting to promote game development tools and services that leverage artificial intelligence. 

This year also marks the debut of an All Accessibility Corner, which showcases tools and technologies designed to make games playable and fun regardless of disabilities, age or other factors.

Gaming device maker Hori Co., for example, presented a controller that can be operated with assistive switches and a joystick as an alternative to the standard controller held with both hands.

Options like this come as the gaming industry continues its steady trajectory of upward growth.

The global market for console, PC and mobile game content expanded 50 percent over four years to 31 trillion yen ($210 billion) in 2024, according to the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, which organizes TGS.

The association’s data also shows that games accounted for 62 percent of Japan’s overall entertainment content exports worth 5.8 trillion yen in 2023.

Together with anime, which made up 30 percent, games form the backbone of the nation’s intellectual property industry, and TGS has been around for much of that growth.

The first event was in 1996. Prior to becoming an annual event, there was a period where it was held twice yearly in spring and autumn.

(This article was written by Kenichiro Shino and Sakiko Kondo.)

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