Italian Innovation Shines at Tokyo Game Show 2024

According to data processed by IIDEA (Italian trade association of the video game sector), the video game market reached a total value of 2.3 billion euros in 2023, marking an increase of 5% compared to 2022 and 28% compared to 2019, positioning Italy among the top five European markets, with approximately 13 million active gamers, equal to 31% of the population.

“Thanks to the support of Agenzia ICE, in 2024 the Italian video game industry will participate for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show with an Italian stand and a delegation of 14 companies. For our developers, this is a unique opportunity for international visibility that adds to the other missions carried out during the year at Gamescom in Cologne and the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. This event, among the most important in the world for our sector, is not only the right context to promote business opportunities with the Asian market, but also represents an exceptional showcase for the talent and creativity of professionals and productions made in Italy. Our participation in the Tokyo Game Show as a collective consolidates the image of Italy as a creative and technological hub at an international level”commented Thalita Malagò, General Manager IIDEA.

In the group photo, from right to left: Italian Ambassador to Tokyo Gianluigi Benedetti, Director of the ICE Office in Tokyo Gianpaolo Bruno, President of the Basilicata Region Gen. Vito Bardi, Thalita Malagò, Director General of IIDEA.

To promote the video game industry, ICE Agency, for the first time, has organized a national pavilion at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 (TGS) 2024, one of the most important international fairs dedicated to the videogame industry, which takes place from September 26 to 29, 2024 at the Makuhari Messe exhibition center in Chiba in Japan. This year’s edition will feature nearly 800 exhibitors and is expected to attract over 250,000 visitors over the four-day event. TGS 2024 is divided into 13 thematic areas, covering all aspects of the industry, from console and PC games, to smartphone games, virtual reality, metaverse and artificial intelligence.The event includes a series of seminar and information programs, including the TGS Forum that analyzes the latest trends and future prospects of the industry.

Inside the Italian pavilion there will be 14 companies, each with an individual workstation equipped with a monitor, as well as an Italian-Japanese interpretation service. A virtual catalogue has also been produced and is being widely advertised among the main Japanese operators in the sector. On the eve of the event, on September 25, a reception was organised at the Italian Embassy in Japan to encourage meetings and the exchange of information between Italian companies and their international partners.

The Italian presence is further strengthened by a series of communication actions on the official TGS website and on the digital channels of the ICE Office in Tokyo, with the creation of a dedicated web page in Japanese, the dissemination of the digital catalogue and promotion on social media..