Tokyo Game Show 2025 was held this past weekend from September 25 to the 28 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. The event is Japan’s largest gaming expo that features booths and game demos from developers worldwide. 2025 boasted over 263,000 attendees over the course of the four days, which is almost 20,000 less attendees than last year in 2024.
As a business day attendee, I felt there was an obvious increase in the amount of attendees on Thursday and Friday, so I was surprised by this number at first. Tokyo Game Show announced that the amount of attendees decreased for the public days, but increased for the business days. TGS will add an extra day for 2026, and I feel this extra day is needed so that press, influencers, and the general public can have more time to focus on playing games. Video games are, after all, the entire point of Tokyo Game Show, so let’s dive into what I saw and played at this year’s event, and why I felt it was the most disappointed I’ve been in the event after my four years attending.
Since 2022, I had always prioritized the SEGA/ATLUS booth due to the annual new Sonic the Hedgehog release, but oddly enough Sonic Racing CrossWorlds released the opening day of Tokyo Game Show on the 25th. For this reason, I didn’t feel the need to speed over to play demos, so instead I decided to get merch shopping out of the way before the crowds came. But after that, I wanted to lock in on playing as many game demos as I could.
This led me to stopping by the Bandai Namco booth to try out DIGIMON STORY TIME STRANGER on PS5. It felt a bit silly to wait half an hour to play the game given it comes out this Thursday on October 2, but Bandai Namco had an outstanding booth that any hardcore Digimon fan surely wouldn’t mind waiting in. The game demo itself was flashy and fun, but I look forward to how the game holds up with a new Pokémon game, Pokémon LEGENDS Z-A, releasing in such a short time after.
Another highlight of Thursday was being able to play IKINAGAMES’s upcoming turn-based RPG, STARBITES. I was invited by IKINAGAMES to the Happinet booth to play the demo of STARBITES, and though I had no expectations going into the demo, I was thrilled with how much fun I had with the game and loved the bright anime art style. I’ll go into more details in a separate article, but I was honored to interview STARBITES developer and IKINAGAMES’ founder Junho Bae about the game. For fans of old school RPGs such as Final Fantasy V and VI, you should give STARBITES a chance when it releases in early 2026.
Thursday morning went fairly well for me, especially after I got my hands on the Sonic Racing CrossWorlds demo and got some Sonic freebies. But after a few hours of making my rounds throughout the halls, I noticed that many companies brought the same games as they’ve had in past years. Level 5 brought FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time even though the game has been out for several months, and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, slated for 2026. Level 5 had almost the same exact booth as last year, so I didn’t feel the need to spend much time there, especially since I had played all of their demos last year. I felt similarly to the Square Enix booth, which heavily advertised FINAL FANTASY XIV Online and DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake, and the CAPCOM booth which pushed Monster Hunter Wilds, a title that released early this year.
Since I often have limited time (and physical stamina) to stand in line to play games, I always want to make sure I get to play something special and new. In years’ past it felt like an honor to play huge games like Street Fighter 6, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, and Persona 3 Reload before their official release. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be many special standouts this year at Tokyo Game Show, and I noticed this early on Thursday. In fact, I cut my day short, wanting to save some energy for the next day. I understand that not every development team and company will have a new game every year, but when almost all the major booths feel the exact same as last year, it’s natural to feel a bit underwhelmed.
Early on Friday, I made the decision to not attend the public days of the events, as I recalled last year not being able to even move around the halls much due to the amount of attendees. The first two business days for 2025 felt quite crowded, even more so than in past years. Turns out, there was a 20% increase in attendance on the business days, and a drop in attendance for the public days. I can’t help but speculate that business ticket holders got their fill of TGS the first two days and decided not to return the next days, as did I.
Still, Friday I made my way through the halls again, played Sonic Racing CrossWorlds a second time due to short lines, and tried to take some last minute pictures. The highlight of Friday was being able to play a cozy little kickstarted game called Starsand Island. The booth caught my eye with a cute anime artstyle and relaxing vibes, leading me to play a demo for about 10 minutes. The game ran a bit sluggishly, and it had me wondering if the heat of the day was effecting the computers’ ability to run games, but since Starsand Island does not release until 2026, there is still time to fix up problems I encountered in the game. After playing the ten minute demo, I walked around the hall in a sea of Genshin Impact wanna-be games and mobile games, which didn’t capture my interest at all.
Admittedly, I left early again on Friday. Perhaps it was the Tokyo heat or just being on my feet for hours and hours, but I felt rather underwhelmed by TGS 2025, and perhaps others felt the same, leading to a decreased outcome on Saturday and Sunday. I still plan to return to TGS in 2026, but out of all the years I have attended since 2022, this year was a bit lackluster. Tokyo Game Show announced that next year they will add an additional day to the event, which may help crowding, but I feel that the crowds are less of a problem and that the bigger problem comes from the booths not being up to par with displays from years’ past.
I stay optimistic for Tokyo Game Show in the future, and look forward to attending in 2026, despite my feelings on the 2025 event. Take a look at a few more pictures taken at the show below.
Anime Corner had the honor of attending Tokyo Game Show as press, and we look forward to future years. Thank you, as always, for your support. The end of the anime season is upon us, so feel free to vote in our anime poll for your favorite anime of the Summer 2025 season.
Participate In Discussions