The Tokyo Game Show opened to media and industry figures, with the general public permitted to attend in the coming days for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus, bringing the latest in metaverse and virtual reality titles and technologies into the spotlight.
The annual extravaganza for video-game lovers, one of the biggest of its kind in the world, is being held at Chiba's Makuhari Messe Convention Centre, near Tokyo, through Sunday. The general public can access the show from Friday afternoon.
The show was held largely online for the past two years due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions and the organiser expects to attract some 150,000 visitors across the four days this year.
About 600 companies and organisations from 37 countries and regions, including Japanese giants Capcom Co and Square Enix Co, are participating in the event. Despite opening to the public again, some of the exhibitions can still be accessed online, according to the organiser, the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association.
"People have come to re-evaluate the intrinsic value of games during the pandemic as they serve as a communication tool," Hideki Hayakawa, the head of the organiser, said during the opening ceremony.
"We want people to enjoy the thrill of games both in the real world and online."
The metaverse has become a buzzword in the game industry and beyond as more companies from game developers to banks have begun to see the business potential of a virtual world that allows users to experience shopping, attend events and communicate with each other from anywhere.
During the keynote lecture, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc said it is developing a metaverse themed after Gundam, a robot featured in its popular animations.
"We want to create a space where fans from all over the world can gather and connect," the company's "Chief Gundam Officer" Koji Fujiwara said.
Facebook Inc, the operator of its namesake social media service, changed its name to Meta Platforms Inc last year to concentrate on its metaverse business, focusing public attention on the nascent technology.
With Japan increasingly easing anti-virus restrictions, the number of participating organisations recovered to about 90% of that seen in 2019, which stood at 655. The number of titles exhibited is 1,864, surpassing the 1,522 in 2019.
The Tokyo Game Show is one of the world's three biggest gaming events, along with E3 in the United States and Gamescom in Germany.