Tokyo Game Show 2025

If you’ve ever wanted to sweat profusely while standing next to a seven-foot-tall guy dressed as Sephiroth and simultaneously scream at a giant LED screen showing the next Final Fantasy trailer, then buddy, Tokyo Game Show 2025 is exactly where you need to be.

Held at the legendary Makuhari Messe in Chiba, just a train ride from Tokyo proper, TGS is the Olympics of geekery, the mecca of controller-clicking bliss. And it’s back again this year with more RGB lighting, more virtual reality helmets, and more oddly specific merchandise than you ever imagined could be made.

First things first: bring snacks, comfortable shoes, a backup battery for your phone, and possibly a moral support friend who can slap you out of spending 20,000 yen on a plushie shaped like a pixelated slime from Dragon Quest. The crowds are real, the lines are long, and your inner child will try to max out your credit card before you even make it past the Bandai Namco booth.

Expect to see every major game publisher and hardware manufacturer flexing their latest creations. Sony might be unveiling a PlayStation 6. Nintendo will probably not be there, but someone will be showing off an unlicensed Pokémon game that somehow still draws a crowd. Microsoft? They’ll be there, probably with a booth bigger than your apartment. Capcom, Square Enix, Sega, and every other studio that sounds like your childhood will have demos, trailers, swag, and playable builds.

The indie game section is a maze of creativity. One booth might be showing a farming simulator where you raise sentient radishes, and the next one is a text-based game where you’re a ghost trying to flirt with other ghosts at a haunted mixer. It’s weird. It’s glorious. You will wonder if you’re hallucinating by day two.

There are also panels and live events featuring your favorite game devs, voice actors, and YouTubers with more subscribers than most countries have citizens. If you don’t understand a word of Japanese, don’t worry—there’s a good mix of English signage, and honestly, the universal language of pointing and squealing still gets you pretty far. Plus, the guy next to you in a full Genshin Impact cosplay probably speaks better English than you do and will kindly explain what’s going on while helping you find the Monster Hunter demo line.

Now, if you’re wondering how to have a good time at TGS, here’s the recipe: wander. Don’t overplan. You will not be able to see everything. That’s okay. Try the VR rhythm game that looks like it was made in a fever dream. Watch people scream while playing horror demos in tiny soundproof booths. Get a random gachapon item you don’t need. Accept that you’ll spend more time in line than playing anything and that’s just part of the charm.

And cosplay. Even if you don’t do it yourself, appreciate it. Some of the costumes here are basically functioning mechs. Others are so detailed you wonder if the character stepped out of the screen. And every now and then you’ll see something truly cursed, like someone dressed as a haunted PlayStation memory card. You’ll love it. You’ll take a photo. You might cry a little.

The merchandise area is its own beast. Think t-shirts, art books, mugs, mousepads with anatomical enhancements, $300 statues of characters you barely remember from a PS2 game, and snacks themed after franchises you didn’t know had snacks. If you want it, it exists. If it doesn’t exist, someone at TGS is already working on it.

Tokyo Game Show is not just a convention. It’s a pilgrimage for every joystick junkie, keyboard cowboy, and RPG speedrunner who ever thought, “What if I just spent four days in gaming heaven?” It’s loud, it’s chaotic, it’s oddly wholesome, and it’s one of the most electric, nerdy, joyfully overwhelming things you can do in Japan.

Go at least once. Wear something nerdy. Try not to trip over a guy filming TikToks as Cloud Strife. Buy a tiny Zelda-themed rice scoop you’ll never use. Stand in line for a game you don’t even know the name of. And leave feeling like you’ve just walked through the collective dreams of a million gamers all rendered in glorious 4K.