Sony is bringing the PlayStation 5 to the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba in September. The European Gamescom will be left empty-handed by the market leader. What does that actually say about Gamescom itself?
Trade fair bustle in the CESA halls
The industry association CESA lists Sony Interactive Entertainment as an official exhibitor for the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, taking place from September 17th to 21st, 2026. The event at the Makuhari Messe convention center has been extended to five days. The first two days are reserved for trade visitors. 759 companies have booked booths, including Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, Atlus, and Level-5.
Sony is remaining tight-lipped about specific software promises. However, the release window for "Marvel's Wolverine" is just before the event. Playable hardware stations and presentations from third-party developers are expected to be standard fare.
London decides the value of Europe
The decision regarding major trade show appearances is made by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe in London, not by the national branches. PlayStation Germany no Gamescom booth for years Therefore, remaining is an expression of a European corporate strategy and not a local decision.
The presence of Microsoft and Nintendo in Cologne only superficially fills the gap. The absence of the market leader undermines the relevance of a leading European trade fair. The message to the industry is clear: Tokyo remains a strategically important home market for Sony, despite a shrinking console market – especially in an environment increasingly dominated by mobile games.
Records that need to be scraped together
Gamescom breaks records every year. But records say nothing about the quality of the participants. Where once the biggest publishers dominated the halls, today smaller exhibitors, influencers, merchandise stands, and hardware partners increasingly fill the statistics, just to attract anyone to the ever-increasing ticket prices.
And without Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live, Gamescom's international appeal would be significantly diminished. The most important news moment of the trade fair no longer takes place in the halls, but in front of millions of screens.
Furthermore, industry professionals often only see demo material in the business areas that was streamed weeks earlier at the Summer Game Fest. Real-time digital reporting has long since rendered physical trade fairs obsolete for information gathering.
The industry has completely controlled traditional trade show evaluations. Trailers are released simultaneously on YouTube, and pre-orders are handled through digital stores. Physical presence now serves only as brand marketing for end consumers. Sony has completely forgone these expenses in Europe for years, relying instead on digital formats like State of Play.
Tokyo will deliver firsthand, concrete gameplay reports on the PlayStation 5 in September. Gamescom will offer queues for trailers that are already playing on smartphones anyway. The Cologne trade fair's value as an information source for already informed gamers is practically nonexistent. Anyone looking for the next big things should look to Asia.
They're probably afraid that people will dump a truckload of discs in front of their stand 💿💿💿
Jan Altemeier, they haven't been around since 2019, but okay 🤣
Jan Altemeier and the six years before that were there, why weren't they?
Jan Altemeier That would probably be a bit of an exaggeration.