For Tokyo Game Show, the post-COVID “new normal” looks a lot like the past.
Organizers predictably trumpeted their hopes to hold the “largest ever” TGS this year since the pandemic effectively squashed in-person turnout for three straight years prior, and they very nearly made good on those promises. A grand total of 243,238 attendees walked through the doors of Chiba’s Makuhari Messe convention center between Sept. 21 and 24, with more than 91,000 entrants alone on Sept. 23, the first day open to the general public.
While this year’s overall attendance fell about 19,000 short of 2019’s tally of 262,076, it’s a world and a half away from 2022, when just over 130,000 masked attendees made their way out to Makuhari Messe. In fact, this year’s first public day saw about 5,000 more gamers than what TGS counted back in 2019.