I made it to Japan this week for my first Tokyo Sport Present. Sure, in 27 years of standard 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 folks or so — lots of them cosplayers on the weekend.
First, it’s fairly large. 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 12 months. There are 44 international locations attending, the identical as a 12 months in the past. And there are 2,850 titles on show, in comparison with 2,291 a 12 months in the past. On virtually each measure, the numbers are up; we’ll see how ultimate attendance appears to be like afterward.
There are some fascinating figures on platforms and genres. Whereas Nintendo is just not on the present, there are 295 Nintendo Change video games, up from 234 final 12 months. In the meantime, Pocket Pair, the maker of Palworld, was there with a big sales space and numerous cosplayers. Nintendo sued Pocket Pair for making what everybody jokingly known as “Pokemon with guns.”
There are 156 PS4 and 238 PS5 video games, up from 144 and 158 a 12 months in the past. Actually, Sony was there displaying off the standard of the PlayStation 5 Professional. You possibly can see Gran Turismo operating on it on this video.
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Xbox has 172 X/S video games, up from 103 final 12 months, 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) might be coming to Sport Move 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 most recent visible replace on Steel Gear Strong Delta: Snake Eater with up to date graphics, and Japanese studios Denki Works and Essential Reflex debuted a world premiere with their classically impressed Tanuki Pon’s Summer season and far, far more. Gilles Langourieux, CEO of Virtuos, an Asia-focused exterior growth firm with 3,800 folks, famous that his workforce of exterior builders helped with the Snake Eater title for greater than two years. He instructed 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 12 months; 6 Valve Index, down from 19 final 12 months; 32 Meta Quest 2, down from 27 final 12 months; and 6 HTC Vive, down from 19 final 12 months.
That positively looks 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 12 months; 347 RPGs, down from 379 final 12 months; 397 journey video games, up from 340 final 12 months; 208 simulation video games, down from 257 final 12 months; 74 capturing video games, down from 93 final 12 months; 155 puzzle video games, up from 100 final 12 months; 96 ARPGs, up from 60 final 12 months; 187 motion journey, up from 115 final 12 months; 51 sports activities, up from 29 final 12 months; 28 racing, down from 29 final 12 months; and 47 motion capturing, up from 44 final 12 months.
I’d be aware that I haven’t seen almost as many layoffs among the many Japanese or Asian sport corporations as I’ve seen within the West. Kenji Matsubara, CEO of SNK, stated in an interview with me in Tokyo that the Japanese sport trade might have had a extra conservative strategy throughout the pandemic, not hiring so many individuals because the Western corporations did. In consequence, they didn’t have to interrupt with the custom of lifetime employment and reduce numerous jobs because the post-pandemic occasions led to a drop in gaming demand.
Numerous executives famous in interviews that the Chinese language sport corporations have come on robust. Ken Kutaragi, father of the PlayStation, gave a keynote speak 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 know-how. He foresees an age of “real-time computing” that might be 100 occasions larger than the sport trade we’ve at this time. That’s very optimistic.
Within the meantime, he famous the success of Chinese language sport firm Sport Science, which bought 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.
Throughout 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 sport 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 at this time. 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 outdoors Riyadh as a “giga project.”
Qiddiya hosted a panel of Avenue Fighter esports stars at its sales space — and it drew an enormous crowd.
It’s a world 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.