The organizers of the upcoming Tokyo Game Show said that they remain optimistic that people would attend the yearly gaming event despite the ongoing War in the Middle East which could affect attendance coming from these countries.
The Tokyo Game Show is an annual video game convention and trade fair held every September in Makuhari Messe convention center and is organized by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association together with Nikkei Business Publications
For the first time this year, TGS will be held for five days, from September 17-21, with the business days held on September 17-18 and public days on September 19-21
In an interview with Dispatches during their event briefing held in Makati City last April 10 and co-organized by CBZN Perspective, Taiyo Tanabe, head of Nikkei Business Publications’ Tokyo Game Show management office, said that even if some game publications have bases in some Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates, it is not just limited to those specific sites.
“Even if they have their base in the UAE, I believe they have their development office in other countries as well, so they can still send some exhibitors and such. On our end, we welcome any kind of participation, even regarding this kind of situation,” Tanabe said through an interpreter.
Asked whether the video game industry would benefit from the ongoing crisis, Tanabe said that this is something that they do not want to happen even if games could only be their only way to de-stress
“We want most of our participant visitors to be available or to visit us on the real face-to-face as much as possible. Although the online [platform] is still open, everybody can join online as well, but still, we prefer to have people together with us on a real format or a face-to-face as well, physical,” Tanabe said.
Meanwhile, Game Development Association of the Philippines board member Solon Chen believes that the gaming industry will continue to survive amid the ongoing conflict.
“I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference. It should just be the same. And the same goes for a lot of other industries,” Chen exclusively told Dispatches
He agreed with Taiyo that the ongoing conflict could have an impact on the attendance of this year’s TGS but could also create a boom for the gaming industry due to many people staying at home.
Chen said that independent Filipino game developers should use the TGS as a platform where they would get their validation as an independent developer.
For more information regarding participation in the TGS, visit https://tgs.cesa.or.jp (FSPH)