The organizers of Tokyo Game Show have announced that this year’s event has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TGS 2020 was due to take place from September 24th to 27th at the Makuhari Messe convention center just outside Tokyo, but there are now plans to hold an online event instead.
This is the first time that TGS has ever been canceled since it started in 1996, but the news won’t come as a surprise to anyone. Virtually every in-person gaming event this year has been scratched from the calendar, including E3 and Gamescom, the biggest shows in the US and Europe respectively.
TGS 2020 would likely have gained more attention than in the average year because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Both systems are set to go on sale this holiday season, but the opportunities to see them in person ahead of their release are probably going to be more limited than usual.
Microsoft has already started its cycle of online promotion for the Series X, earlier today showing off some of the first games running on the new hardware. Sony has been quieter, so far only revealing the PS5’s logo and specifications.
