The 2021 Tokyo Games Show (TGS) has gone virtual with help from Oculus and HTC, who are working jointly on an immersive experience to bring the annual video game convention to new realities.
The TSG will take place from September 30 and October 3 and marks the first virtual reality (VR) event in TGS’s 25 years of operation.
Event organisers are convening top VR vendors such as Facebook’s Oculus and Taiwan’s HTC to take part in this “epic experiment,” according to the event website.
Expo gaming firms such as Konami, Square Enix, Xbox, and others are expected to join TGS as vendors, and the Tokyo-based event has teased attendees with features such as virtual booths and an interactable gaming world to explore.
While all the virtual expo features have not yet been announced, TGS has built up the suspense for attendees and promised eventgoers will be “witnesses to this history.”
According to the event, TGS is the inaugural VR gaming event for the expo and the new VR platform aims to unite the gaming and real worlds.
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📢TGS史上初⚡️VR会場オープン🎉
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今年は昨年好評のONLINE会場に加えVR会場がオープン‼️
本日ティザーサイトを公開しました‼️
バーチャル空間ならではのゲームショウを是非お楽しみに✨➡https://t.co/qrdZwk72W9#TGSVR pic.twitter.com/uPDAGZnqsC
— TOKYO GAME SHOW／東京ゲームショウ (@tokyo_game_show) September 1, 2021
Virtual Events
The news comes as virtual events and conferences become more commonplace amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, XR Today joined virtual office space provider Arthur for a global VR press event as the virtual collaboration platform moved from beta to stable build.
VR firms such as Virbela and Engage also provide virtual platforms for groups and events to use.
For example, German automotive leaders BMW teamed up with VR hardware partners Pico for its i-Virtual Garage workshop on the Engage platform, which included a VR garage with an interactable F1 car and an online bar space for attendees to chat over virtual drinks.
