The Tokyo Game Show starts completely online amidst epidemics

The Tokyo Game Show, one of the largest gaming industry conferences in the world, opened fully online on Wednesday for the first time since its launch in 1996.

The annual event usually attracts hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts, many of whom are dressed up as game characters, but this year, as a result of the corona virus infection, they will have to tune in online.

The photo shows the official website of the Tokyo Game Show 2020. (Kyoto)

The first day of the virtual event is restricted to businesses involved in the gaming industry, but is open to the public from Thursday evening to Sunday.

The sequence of events includes free streaming programs provided by game makers, keynote speeches, and sports competitions, including Capcom’s “Street Fighter V”.

About 400 exhibitors from home and abroad will take part in this year’s event, including Sony Corp’s gaming unit and Microsoft Corp’s Japan unit. Both Sony and Microsoft are set to launch new game consoles in November.

The organizers hope that the exhibitors will be able to sell official products through a special site operated by Amazon Japan GK, as the online shopping site will attract visitors to the official site of the gaming event.

The gaming show usually takes place at the Maguhari Mess Convention Center in Siba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, attracting about 262,000 spectators and 655 exhibitors last year. It is one of the three largest gaming events in the world with E3 in the US and Gamescom in Germany.