Tokyo Game Show marked its 30th anniversary with the slogan "the longest five days of nonstop play," promising a glimpse into gaming's next chapter. In practice, the event at Makuhari Messe, Japan's premier exhibition venue, concluded after just four days when a looming typhoon forced the cancellation of the final day.
Rather than looking boldly forward, the show seemed fixated on nostalgia, offering only tentative signs of what lies ahead. The industry as a whole is in a state of transition. While the Nintendo Switch 2 and the expanding PC market have helped mask underlying challenges—especially in Japan, where those platforms now drive most of the recent growth—the overall picture remains unsettled.
Last year’s showcase was dominated by free‑to‑play and mobile titles, a trend that was less pronounced this time, partly because Chinese developers were noticeably absent amid rising geopolitical tension. Yet the overall vision for the industry's future was difficult to discern, as the floor was crowded with familiar faces from the past.
At Sega's stand, the most eye‑catching attraction was not a brand‑new intellectual property like "Stranger Than Heaven" from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, but the upcoming remake of "Persona 4 Golden." The booth was constantly alive with DJs, cosplay performances, and a demo that quickly became the most visited. Square Enix, by contrast, limited its presence to two projects: the concluding chapter of the "Final Fantasy VII" remake saga, which filled the space with towering images of Meteor and Sephiroth, and "Final Fantasy Resonance," an HD‑2D experiment that assembled characters from across the franchise's history. Capcom's area was largely devoted to demo kiosks for the new "Monster Hunter Wilds" expansion, though it also showcased Switch 2 ports of the classic "Resident Evil" entries (2, 3, and 4) and a fresh "Mega Man" title.
Among the major developers, only Bandai Namco and Konami presented genuinely new games. Bandai Namco highlighted a fresh "Gundam" title alongside anime‑linked spin‑offs and "Ace Combat 8," while Konami surprised attendees with a reimagined "Castlevania" rendered in an unconventional art style and non‑playable showcases for upcoming IPs such as "Rhapsody in Scarlet" and "Rev:Noir," plus a preview of "Silent Hill Townfall." Several factors explain this backward‑leaning lineup. TGS takes place in September, a period traditionally crowded with new releases as many publishers avoid direct competition with the highly anticipated "Grand Theft Auto 6" slated for November. Even without a playable demo, the event attracted crowds to a Netflix showcase presented in a haptic‑enhanced theater, a draw amplified by the giveaway of a GTA‑themed PlayStation t‑shirt for attendees who watched the presentation.
While these attractions generated buzz, the most compelling hint of the future came from a single, pervasive technology: generative artificial intelligence. Developers tout AI as a tool that streamlines coding, accelerates asset creation, and reduces costs. Critics, however, warn that it could trigger layoffs and dilute the human artistry that players cherish.
There is also growing concern that rising hardware prices—exacerbated by AI‑driven development—could transform gaming from a popular pastime into a luxury. AI's presence was unmistakable on the TGS floor. The "Selected Indie 80" showcase, which offers free demo space to promising indie titles, was displaced from the main hall to a peripheral corridor, making room for an AI technology pavilion. Ironically, the winning indie, "Finding Polka," which earned accolades at Gamescom and Bitsummit, relies entirely on hand‑drawn sketches rather than AI‑generated art.
Japan appears more receptive to AI than many other markets. A preliminary summary of the upcoming 2026 Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) report, released to the press on opening day, indicated that 86 % of Japanese developers reported using AI tools in some capacity—a sharp rise from 51 % the previous year.
Several exhibited games featured AI‑derived assets, either in promotional material or within the games themselves. Level‑5, in particular, has been outspoken about its AI experiments. The studio has openly discussed employing AI for concept art and promotional imagery since 2023, and CEO Akihiro Hino frequently addresses the topic on social media.
Level‑5's pre‑showcase this year drew intense scrutiny for its heavy reliance on AI. The presentation included AI‑generated "talking‑head" segments where a synthetic image of Hino addressed the audience, as well as AI‑enhanced trailers for upcoming titles such as "Holy Horror Mansion" (a new entry in the wildly popular "Yokai Watch" franchise) and remakes of "Yokai Watch 2" and "Professor Layton and the Curious Village." The backlash was swift; Hino issued a public apology, emphasized the role of human craftsmanship in the booth's design, and promised to revise the studio's AI usage policies. On‑site demos reflected this tension.
While games like "Holy Horror Mansion" and "Decapolice" displayed polished visuals, the developers asserted that any AI‑generated assets had been stripped from the playable builds. The episode underscores a broader anxiety within the community: AI's potential to reshape creative workflows, for better or worse.
Amid the AI debate, another, more optimistic trend emerged: the deepening integration of Japan's traditional multimedia production‑committee model into gaming. Originating in the 1970s film industry through Kadokawa, this system pools resources from diverse partners—ranging from food producers to fashion brands—to share risk and broaden a project's reach across multiple media. Historically, gaming operated largely outside this framework, but recent years have seen a convergence.
Notable examples illustrate this shift. Convenience‑store chain Lawson, which routinely backs film releases to promote in‑store merchandise, is now extending similar partnerships to games. Sega, in a recent interview with Nikkei, cited Disney as a blueprint for expanding its intellectual properties beyond consoles, citing collaborations such as "Sonic Crossworlds" featuring Godzilla and Evangelion characters, fashion tie‑ins with Balenciaga, and upcoming Netflix adaptations of "Crazy Taxi" and "Stranger Than Heaven" before those games even launch. The indie sector is also benefitting from this cross‑media momentum.
Shueisha Games, for instance, aims not only to fund distinctive projects but also to leverage its extensive publishing expertise to shepherd successful titles into manga, novels, merchandise, and even alternate‑reality games. "Urban Myth Dissolution Center," a top‑selling indie from last year, has already spawned manga adaptations, novelizations, a line of merchandise, and an ARG created by the escape‑room collective SCRAP. Recent collaborations include a partnership with Silent Hill for new merchandise and a free browser spin‑off.
Similarly, Toei Games, traditionally a film studio, is venturing into game development to create IPs that can flow back into movies and other media. Parco Games, founded by the national department‑store chain, is establishing an art‑driven label to support indie creators, showcasing their work in store‑front exhibitions and selling related apparel—t‑shirts for titles like "Berlin Apartment" were on display at TGS. These developments suggest that the future of Japanese gaming will be defined less by a single convention hall and more by a network of interconnected industries. The past will continue to be monetized through remakes and nostalgic revivals, AI will reshape production pipelines, and cross‑media collaborations will blur the lines between games, films, fashion, and consumer goods.
While the next edition of TGS hopes to finally deliver a full five‑day program without weather‑related interruptions, the most decisive forces shaping Japan's gaming landscape are likely unfolding far beyond Makuhari Messe, in boardrooms, AI labs, and creative studios across the country.