Tokyo Game Show 2024 Opens to Public: Long Lines Don't Stop the Fun

Tokyo Game Show, Japan’s largest gaming expo, opened its doors to public ticket holders on Saturday, September 28th, 2024. The public day followed two business days open to only invited guests, influencers, and the press. After two days of exploring the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) during the business days, I decided to take on the first public day, despite the crowds. 

While the event’s doors officially opened to the public at 10 am, priority ticket holders were allowed to enter at 9:30 am. On social media, you could see photos of people lining up as early as 7 am. Crowds flocked to the PlayStation and Capcom booths where Monster Hunter Wilds, a franchise that’s huge in Japan, could be played. Demo tickets for the game ran out early in the morning. 

Fortunately, people with non-priority tickets could get into the exhibit hall early enough to get demo passes for one of Sega’s leading games of the weekend, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Many of the biggest games at TGS were nearly impossible to get demo tickets for by late morning, but many smaller games were available to play easily. 

The back side of the Konami booth boasted a varied line-up, from HUNTER×HUNTER NEN×IMPACT, a fighting game based on the popular anime, to LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW RePOP. Cosplayer PeachMilky sported her Juliet Starling cosplay at the booth to LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW RePOP, and players could take a Polaroid photo with her after playing the game demo. 

Due to the massive crowds in the main event hall, many attendees flocked to the indie game area, which seemed more popular than in the last two years I’ve attended TGS. Indie game developers shared a hall with the merchandise area where lines too long for the booths’ set up formed. Fortunately, I was able to get in line at Sega/Atlus to make purchases after about a 50-minute wait. 

Cosplayers were welcomed today at the Tokyo Game Show as hundreds gathered to show off their work in the designated cosplay area. Zenless Zone Zero, Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Genshin Impact seemed to be this year’s most popular works cosplayed. Despite the heat and humidity, photographers and attendees gathered outside to meet cosplayers, forming lines just to take a quick photo. I photographed cosplayer Daikyo96 in their Von Lycaon cosplay from Zenless Zone Zero.

One downside of the Tokyo Game Show’s public days is the lack of time. Many ticket holders are unable to get into the exhibit until around 11 am, and things start to close around 4:30 pm (officially 5 pm). It can be difficult to get enough time in for more than a couple of games depending on their popularity. Food trucks and restaurant lines also took time, so attendees had to use their time wisely to fit their itineraries into six hours. 

While I’ve only attended the Tokyo Game Show for three years, 2024 felt like the biggest show yet in crowds and in games to be played. Tokyo Game Show reported via X that tickets on their website had sold out prior to opening to the public on the weekend. There’s still one more day of the Tokyo Game Show on September 29th, and soon we may get an announcement about the 2025 show.

Thank you for continuing to follow our Tokyo Game Show coverage, and we’ll have more on the event throughout the week. If you haven’t yet, check out our report on TGS’s business day.