Tokyo Game Show 2020 has been cancelled

This year’s Tokyo Game Show is the latest major industry event to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Originally scheduled to take place at Tokyo’s Makuhari Messe on September 24th, organisers CESA, Nikkei and Dentsu have announced that the event will be entirely online. (via VGC).

“Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on a global scale and the situation remains unpredictable in Japan as well, the organizer and the co-organizers have reached his decision after a long consideration to place the utmost priority on the health and safety of visitors, exhibitors and stakeholders” said TGS in a statement. “We ask for your kind understanding and cooperation.”

Details about the now-online event will be revealed in late May.

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has seen massive events from across the industry either delayed or cancelled outright, with many choosing to go all-digital. We recently spoke to Hendrik Lesser, president of media partners European Games BizDev Gathering about the upcoming two-day online event, which is focused on supporting European game developers during this crisis.

“We will never fully go back to the old ways,” said Lesser. “I expect hybrid concepts for events will happen, online and offline, more focussed physical ones and more. From that perspective, it is exciting.”

Additionally, in our April issue, we spoke to leading industry experts about the challenges for marketing posed by the cancellation of major events.