Tokyo Game Show 2026 Starts This Week: The Biggest Games and Events to Watch

September 16, 2026·5 min read

Xbox, Persona 4 Revival and a playable Lollipop Chainsaw debut lead a five-day show celebrating TGS's 30th anniversary.

Tokyo Game Show 2026 opens on Thursday, September 17, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, and runs through September 21. For its 30th anniversary, the event is expanding to five days for the first time, adding a third public day for visitors to try upcoming games.

The opening day brings an Xbox broadcast and presentations for Persona 4 Revival, Crazy Taxi: World Tour and Stranger Than Heaven. The program also includes a playable debut for the new Lollipop Chainsaw game, developer stages over the weekend and the Japan Game Awards Future Division ceremony. Several of the key presentations will be streamed for viewers outside Japan.

Three Public Days Give Visitors More Time to Play

September 17 and 18 are business days, with public admission running from Saturday, September 19, through Monday, September 21. The extra day is intended to ease crowding and give more visitors access to game demos.

Public opening hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, followed by an earlier 4 p.m. close on Monday. All venue and stage times below use Japan Standard Time, which is UTC+9.

Xbox's Broadcast Arrives on September 17

Microsoft

The Xbox Tokyo Game Show broadcast starts at 7 p.m. JST on September 17, equivalent to 3 a.m. PDT, 6 a.m. EDT and 11 a.m. BST. Misuzu Araki will host a presentation featuring new gameplay and content prepared specifically for TGS.

Viewers can watch through Xbox's YouTube and Twitch channels or the official Tokyo Game Show YouTube channel. The broadcast will mix Japanese and English audio, with captions available. American Sign Language and English audio description options are also planned.

Xbox's presence on the show floor includes Minecraft Dungeons II and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The former offers a chance to try the cooperative dungeon crawler before its September 29 release. Modern Warfare 4's multiplayer will be playable through partner Happinet ahead of its October 23 launch.

Persona 4 Revival and Crazy Taxi Lead Sega and Atlus' Stages

Persona 4 Revival promotional artwork featuring the protagonist and Investigation Team characters against a bright yellow and blue background. — SEGA / Altus

Sega and Atlus have scheduled 27 types of stage event covering 16 games, with every booth stage set to stream on Sega's official YouTube channel. The program combines developer discussions, gameplay demonstrations and musical performances, so the session descriptions are useful when deciding where to spend your time.

These are some of the main appointments:

Date	Start time, JST	Presentation
September 17	11:20 a.m.	Persona 4 Revival talk show with Enako and Kazuhisa Wada
September 17	12:40 p.m.	Crazy Taxi: World Tour mission challenge
September 17	3:40 p.m.	Stranger Than Heaven RGG TV presentation with new information
September 19	11:20 a.m.	Persona 4 Revival special stage
September 19	12:30 p.m.	Stranger Than Heaven gameplay with Kenny Omega
September 19	1:20 p.m.	Total War: Warhammer 40,000 special stage
September 19	2:30 p.m.	Crazy Taxi: World Tour demo playthrough

Persona 4 Revival has both a playable demo and several stage appearances. Thursday's discussion features Persona producer Kazuhisa Wada, while Saturday's longer session brings together director Daisuke Yajima and creators k4sen and Clutch_Fi. Music and dance performances run throughout the show, with singer Shiori Sasaki joining the September 21 performance.

Crazy Taxi: World Tour offers a more direct look at its driving. SHAKA will tackle missions on Thursday, followed by a Saturday demonstration with Noriaki Suzuki and members of the development team. Visitors can also try a steering-wheel setup in an area modeled on the original arcade cabinets. The game is scheduled for 2027, with a story mode following Axel through cities inspired by locations around the world and online play for up to six people.

For Stranger Than Heaven, Thursday's RGG TV presentation is the session explicitly advertising new information. Saturday's Kenny Omega appearance is billed as a gameplay showcase, with further gameplay sessions scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

The New Lollipop Chainsaw Gets Its First Playable Showing

Lollipop Chainsaw gameplay screenshot showing Juliet Starling fighting zombies with a chainsaw in a burning environment. — Dragami Games

The next Lollipop Chainsaw game will be playable for the first time in the Sega Partners area of the Sega and Atlus booth. It is still being presented under the working title Lollipop Chainsaw New Project, with its final name and platforms yet to be announced.

Two stage events will introduce the project. The first begins at 11:40 a.m. on September 18 at the Sega and Atlus booth and lasts around 30 minutes. A second, approximately 50-minute presentation starts at 9:40 a.m. on September 19 on the TGS main stage.

Producers and developers will discuss the game alongside official ambassador PeachMilky. With a playable build available, the show should give attendees their first opportunity to assess how the new entry handles Juliet's return.

The Future Division Awards Spotlight Upcoming Releases

The Japan Game Awards Future Division ceremony takes place at 1 p.m. JST on September 20. It recognizes unreleased games exhibited or announced at TGS, using public voting followed by a selection committee's assessment.

Voting opens at 10 a.m. on September 17 and closes at 4 p.m. on September 19. Eligible entries include games shown online, although announcements made after the voting deadline are excluded. The ceremony will feature footage of the selected games and appearances from their creators, with a free livestream available.

The program continues into Monday, September 21. Sega's final day includes Sonic anniversary music performances, another Stranger Than Heaven gameplay session and a Persona music and dance show at 1:55 p.m., before the exhibition closes at 4 p.m.