Japan’s annual video game show opened Thursday with a record number of exhibitors, including independent companies and newcomers. The Tokyo Game Show, which continues through Sunday, boasts more than 2,000 booths from 480 exhibitors.
The make-up of the exhibitors shows the increasingly global nature of gaming, with more than half of the exhibitors coming from abroad. In particular, Chinese mobile game-makers are at the show in huge numbers. Mobile gaming is exploding in China, with revenue that is expected to will grow 36 per cent to about $6.5 billion (U.S.) this coming year, overtaking the U.S. and narrowing the gap with leader Japan.
And the recent lifting of the long ban on consoles is also expected to make China an increasingly healthy gaming market in years to come. The Tokyo Game Show, it seems, has been the show that is benefiting most from this new Chinese gaming explosion.
YouTube and online retailer Amazon with its Twitch game service, were also first-time exhibitors at the Tokyo show. The event also had the perennial favourites, such as the latest versions of the Street Fighter combat game from Capcom and the Metal Gear Solid action adventure game from Konami Digital Entertainment. Plus, there were long lines at Sony’s booth for its VR headset, which offers virtual reality games, promised for next year.