Breakthrough Thinking #1: Behind the Scenes of the Tokyo Game Show's Shift to Online

How do breakthrough ideas that drive transformation across companies and entire industries come to be, and what kind of future do they bring? The original program "Breakthrough Ideas" delves into the untold stories and finds inspiration for tomorrow's business.

For its first episode, we focus on the global gaming industry and spotlight the industry's largest event, the Tokyo Game Show, for discussion.

Moderated by Norihiko Sasaki (Principal, NewsPicks NewSchool), with guest MC Kenji Sudo (CEO, Kaizen Platform), the panel includes Haruhiro Tsujimoto (Director and Event Committee Chair, CESA - Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, the TGS organizer), Yoko Kawamoto (Amazon Japan LLC), Masami Nagayama (Dentsu Inc.), and Tsuyoshi Ishikawa.

We delve into the secrets of customer experience design that helped overcome the crisis at the 2020 Tokyo Game Show, whose very existence was threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

※This article is reprinted from Newspicks.

Tokyo Game Show Finds New Life Online

Kenji Sudo. Representative Director, Kaizen Platform

Sasaki: That's right. The key to this lies with the annual "Tokyo Game Show." First, could Mr. Tsujimoto, who is also the event chairman, explain what kind of event this is?

Tsujimoto:The Tokyo Game Show is Japan's largest gaming event and one of the world's three major game shows, alongside America's "E3" and Germany's "gamescom."

Held every September, it serves as a crucial platform for the gaming industry to showcase various content and services. In recent years, a majority of exhibitors have been overseas companies, making it a key venue for industry matchmaking.

Haruhiro Tsujimoto. Director, Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA). Chairman of the Event Committee, President and COO, Capcom.

Sudo: I've visited myself and was amazed by the sheer number of people. You really feel the high level of attention it receives.

Sasaki: What challenges does the Tokyo Game Show currently face?

Tsujimoto: Domestically, the impact of Japan's declining birthrate and aging population is unavoidable. Maintaining the gaming population is an urgent priority. Therefore, overseas expansion is crucial, and what kind of initiatives the Tokyo Game Show can offer for this purpose is vital.

Sasaki: However, last year the pandemic struck, putting the event scene in a difficult position. How did the Tokyo Game Show respond?

Tsujimoto: While many physical events were forced to cancel, we made an early decision to proceed with the event to preserve this valuable opportunity for the gaming industry to showcase itself.

That said, from an infection control perspective, holding an in-person event proved difficult, leading us to switch to a fully online format.

Sasaki: I see. But completely shifting an entire event online must have been incredibly challenging within such a limited timeframe.

Ishikawa: That's right. We had to start from scratch, considering what users who had previously attended in-person events expected from Tokyo Game Show and determining which of those elements would translate well online.

Masami Nagayama. Dentsu Inc. Activation Business Center / Tsuyoshi Ishikawa. Dentsu Inc. Business Production Bureau

Tsujimoto: It was our first attempt, so naturally, we were filled with anxiety at the start. How much customer satisfaction could we maintain online? There was also the issue of how much sales and revenue we could sustain online to secure the budget.

Sudo: From the user's perspective, the value inevitably differs between real and online experiences, so how you design the experience is crucial.

However, looking at successful examples, it's also true that opportunities are expanding regardless of distance. So, depending on how we approach it, I believe this could become a promising opportunity looking ahead.

Dentsu Inc. × Amazon Collaboration Realizes Live Commerce

Sasaki: The real issue is precisely how to overcome these challenges.

Tsujimoto: The Tokyo Game Show traditionally drew 260,000 attendees annually, which was the maximum capacity of Makuhari Messe, the venue.

To appeal beyond this fixed capacity and reach overseas audiences, we had already been working on content distribution. In fact, we felt we should fully leverage the advantage of going online this time.

Nagayama: Eliminating distance barriers expands opportunities to reach casual audiences, so it's not necessarily negative. However, this required creating experiences accessible without physically attending the venue.

Sasaki: That led to our first breakthrough idea.

Ishikawa: Our initial proposal centered on the theme "Gameful." This concept represents an event designed to let participants experience the transformative power of games—how the intersection of gaming and other industries can significantly reshape reality.

Nagayama: We actually had the catchphrase "Gameful Tomorrows. (Let's do everything games can do.)" ready even before the pandemic spread. Facing this unexpected situation only strengthened that conviction.

Sasaki: But making such a sudden course change with limited time couldn't have been easy. What was the second breakthrough idea that paved the way?

Nagayama: Establishing the TGS Amazon Special Venue as a satellite location. Merchandise sales are a key part of Tokyo Game Show. To operate this online seamlessly, we concluded leveraging Amazon's capabilities was the best approach.

Kawamoto: We've long been experimenting with ways to provide customers with the best possible shopping experience. Being invited to collaborate with Tokyo Game Show this time presented an opportunity to contribute to the entire industry.

Yoko Kawamoto. Amazon Japan   Entertainment Media Business Division
Head of Music, Video, Software, and Video Games

Sudo: Partnering with Amazon is a brilliant idea. Having personally experienced the long lines for merchandise at the venue, I feel this shift to online is significant.

Nagayama: For example, we explored creating a seamless purchasing flow where users could shop while viewing information about new games. Features like purchasing products seen during a live stream have already been implemented.

Ishikawa: One challenge with online events was how to replicate the serendipity found at physical events. It's great that Amazon's recommendation features helped solve that issue.

Sasaki: It's a somewhat unconventional partnership, but by leveraging the strengths of both Dentsu Inc. and Amazon, we were able to provide a more convenient customer experience. Kawamoto-san, did you gain any new insights into Amazon's strengths through this opportunity?

Kawamoto: Yes, I feel that one achievement was seamlessly connecting content and purchasing through live commerce.

What will happen to the Tokyo Game Show after 2021?

Tsujimoto: Realizing the 2020 Tokyo Game Show through these efforts earned us many words of gratitude from users. It was also a good opportunity to reaffirm the convenience of online events, eliminating the need to physically attend.

Sasaki: So what about this year and beyond? Will it be held online permanently from now on?

Ishikawa: We won't eliminate the online component, at the very least. That said, in terms of the live atmosphere, energy, and serendipity, nothing beats a real-world event. So going forward, we'll likely transition to a hybrid format combining both real-world and online elements.

Sasaki: I see. How about from a business perspective?

Tsujimoto: Regarding game merchandise sales, going online eliminated physical production costs and prevented missed sales opportunities—significant advantages. Sales-wise, I believe it led to positive results for the industry as a whole.

Moving forward, we must leverage this 2020 experience to further evolve the Tokyo Game Show.

Sudo: What's particularly noteworthy in this case is that we didn't simply transfer what we do offline to online; we actively expanded the concept. We identified what was needed and demanded, then translated it into a format unique to online. That's precisely why we gained such strong support.

Sasaki: Exactly. Finally, based on our discussion so far, I'd like to ask everyone for specific ideas, in keywords, about what kind of customer experiences we should provide going forward.

Tsujimoto: For me, it's "Interactive."

Games inherently have high interactivity, but digitalization has further narrowed the gap between users and manufacturers. This should yield a wealth of information—for instance, detailed data on which titles are played how much in which countries. Going forward, it's about how we can use this to update our products and services.

Kawamoto: Mine is "Entertainment."

Technological advances have drastically changed how we engage with entertainment content overall. Whether it's games or music, we need to provide experiences that let customers easily enjoy content tailored to their specific environment and mood each time.

Nagayama: For me, it's "engagement."

Moving forward, as we integrate real-world and online experiences, the ideal would be to design experiences that deliver higher satisfaction for customers while also creating more sophisticated marketing opportunities for companies.

Ishikawa: I believe "upshift" will be key for events next year and beyond.

When hosting events using hybrid methods, the events themselves must evolve and expand. To achieve this, we want to actively share our experience of being involved in this major shift at Tokyo Game Show.

Sasaki: Thank you, everyone. Through this "Breakthrough Experience," I look forward to seeing how the event scene will develop going forward.

 

Watch the program here.

Learn more about Dentsu Inc.'s business transformation here.