I made it to Japan this week for my first Tokyo Sport Present. Sure, in 27 years of normal protection of video games, I’ve by no means been to the present till now. Right here’s a few of my impressions of the occasion, which ought to draw round 200,000 individuals or so — lots of them cosplayers on the weekend.
First, it’s fairly huge. There are 985 corporations on the present, in comparison with 787 in 2023. They’re occupying 3,252 cubicles, in comparison with 2,682 cubicles final yr. There are 44 nations attending, the identical as a yr in the past. And there are 2,850 titles on show, in comparison with 2,291 a yr in the past. On virtually each measure, the numbers are up; we’ll see how closing attendance appears to be like afterward.
There are some fascinating figures on platforms and genres. Whereas Nintendo isn’t on the present, there are 295 Nintendo Swap video games, up from 234 final yr. In the meantime, Pocket Pair, the maker of Palworld, was there with a big sales space and quite a lot of cosplayers. Nintendo sued Pocket Pair for making what everybody jokingly referred to as “Pokemon with weapons.”
There are 156 PS4 and 238 PS5 video games, up from 144 and 158 a yr in the past. Actually, Sony was there exhibiting off the standard of the PlayStation 5 Professional. You’ll be able to see Gran Turismo working on it on this video.
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Xbox has 172 X/S video games, up from 103 final yr, and 86 Xbox One video games, up from 78. Microsoft confirmed off a bunch of its new video games like Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle in a particular broadcast on the Tokyo Sport Present.
Xbox additionally introduced that Starcraft I and II (from the Blizzard division of the newly acquired Activision Blizzard enterprise) can be coming to Sport Cross on November 5, and gamers heard the Japanese voiceover in Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle for the primary time.
From Konami, the Xbox viewers noticed the newest visible replace on Metallic Gear Strong Delta: Snake Eater with up to date graphics, and Japanese studios Denki Works and Crucial Reflex debuted a world premiere with their classically impressed Tanuki Pon’s Summer season and far, rather more. Gilles Langourieux, CEO of Virtuos, an Asia-focused exterior improvement firm with 3,800 individuals, famous that his staff of exterior builders helped with the Snake Eater title for greater than two years. He informed me that he feels just like the gaming market is getting higher. (We hope so. Our theme at GamesBeat Subsequent 2024 approaching October 28-29 in San Francisco is again to development).
There are 625 Steam video games, up from 437; 496 PC, up from 363, 188 iOS, up from 161, and 190 Android, up from 163. There are solely three PSVR2 titles, down from 12 final yr; 6 Valve Index, down from 19 final yr; 32 Meta Quest 2, down from 27 final yr; and 6 HTC Vive, down from 19 final yr.
That undoubtedly appears like VR is on the decline by way of its share of the market, whereas Steam, Sony and Nintendo and even Xbox are in a really wholesome state.
When it comes to genres, there are 500 motion video games, up from 353 final yr; 347 RPGs, down from 379 final yr; 397 journey video games, up from 340 final yr; 208 simulation video games, down from 257 final yr; 74 taking pictures video games, down from 93 final yr; 155 puzzle video games, up from 100 final yr; 96 ARPGs, up from 60 final yr; 187 motion journey, up from 115 final yr; 51 sports activities, up from 29 final yr; 28 racing, down from 29 final yr; and 47 motion taking pictures, up from 44 final yr.
I’d be aware that I haven’t seen practically as many layoffs among the many Japanese or Asian recreation corporations as I’ve seen within the West. Kenji Matsubara, CEO of SNK, stated in an interview with me in Tokyo that the Japanese recreation business might have had a extra conservative strategy throughout the pandemic, not hiring so many individuals because the Western corporations did. Because of this, they didn’t have to interrupt with the custom of lifetime employment and lower quite a lot of jobs because the post-pandemic instances led to a drop in gaming demand.
Quite a few executives famous in interviews that the Chinese language recreation corporations have come on robust. Ken Kutaragi, father of the PlayStation, gave a keynote discuss on the Tokyo Sport Present the place he foresaw a shift from pc leisure (which he noticed rising out of toys after which video video games) to AI-infused media with supercomputing expertise. He foresees an age of “real-time computing” that can be 100 instances larger than the sport business we’ve got right this moment. That’s very optimistic.
Within the meantime, he famous the success of Chinese language recreation firm Sport Science, which offered 20 million copies in its first month of gross sales for Black Fable Wukong. Alongside different hits like Genshin Affect, Zenless Zen Zero and Honkai Star Rail, it feels just like the Chinese language have come into their very own.
In the course of the week, I made visits to Sony Electronics, Sega, SNK and extra. And, for the primary time in Tokyo, I co-hosted a cocktail party with Xsolla for Japanese recreation corporations, making a mark for GamesBeat in Japan for the primary time in eight years. Within the earlier journey eight years in the past, Matsubara, then at Sega, was additionally on a panel that I moderated together with the Canadian authorities as they pitched Japanese devs to arrange present in Canada.
That was one signal of the worldwide actions in gaming, and we see much more of that right this moment. SNK’s sister firm, Manga Productions, acquired Toei, a maker of manga and anime reveals, and it’s utilizing that expertise to coach interns in Saudi Arabia. Kenji Matsubara, CEO of SNK, has expanded the corporate from 200 to greater than 600 since Saudi Arabia’s Misk Basis acquired it.
That enabled the corporate to carry again SNK’s fan favourite, Deadly Fury, for the primary time in 26 years.
Actually, Mike Milanov, head of Qiddiya Gaming in Saudi Arabia, had a sales space on the Tokyo Sport Present with a cyberpunk theme to advertise the esports and gaming district of Qiddiya, a contemporary metropolis that the Saudi’s are constructing exterior Riyadh as a “giga undertaking.”
Qiddiya hosted a panel of Avenue Fighter esports stars at its sales space — and it drew an enormous crowd.
It’s a worldwide gaming enterprise. It’s good to do not forget that when the blues and enterprise cycles hit any given a part of the enterprise. I’m glad to see part of the world — lengthy overdue for me to go to — the place gaming is flourishing.
