Gaming IndustryPC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 2 report: Microsoft’s Game Pass gambit boosts PC gaming, while Konami leans on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake EaterWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustryPC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 2 report: Microsoft’s Game Pass gambit boosts PC gaming, while Konami leans on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake EaterWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Andrea Salsi)
As I detailed yesterday in our PC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 1 report (see link above), PC gaming has been the notable winner at this year’s TGS, with game publishers all around the world, but notably now in Japan, looking at the PC as an area for growth following the collapse of the traditional console-exclusives gaming industry structure.
Warframe has this cool display at the Tokyo Game Show this year. Unfortunately, you can’t ride the motorbike.(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
Touring around Tokyo Game Show 2024 and speaking to Japanese gamers, it’s clear that 10 years later Game Pass has actually been very beneficial to PC gaming, and I don’t just mean in terms of the PC gamers who subscribe directly to it. With consoles losing many of their software exclusives, and with it becoming cheaper than ever to play many games on day one through Game Pass, Japanese gamers who traditionally would have stuck loyally to Sony, for example, are now looking to PC (Xbox still doesn’t have great brand recognition in Japan) as a viable way to play all the games they want to, regardless of if they do so through Game Pass or not.
There’s plenty of tasty PC gaming hardware on display at Tokyo Game Show 2024.(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
After all, PC is getting almost every new AAA game (mostly now on day one, and with better ports than ever before), as well as boasting the healthiest indie scene on the market. Indeed, as I noted yesterday, there’s a really strong indie and small studios presence here at the TGS this year, and almost all these games are releasing on PC. Japanese gamers are seeing this.
Microsoft masterclass
Microsoft’s ascendancy here feels almost perfectly timed, as it comes when its main console competitor, Sony, is having a tough time, with the Japanesegaming giant forced to restructureearlier in 2024 in order to ‘continue to grow’ its gaming business. In my opinion, Microsoft has probably been waiting years for this. Game Pass has now become a gaming standard, and globally is now considered the cheapest and, in some regards, easiest way to play games.
Arena Breakout: Infinite is a new extraction shooter coming to PC soon.(Image credit: Andrea Salsi)
On a surface level, that seems to be a mere tool to combat Sony and its currently dominant PlayStation consoles, but the fact that Game Pass brings the majority of its titles to PC Game Pass, too, has meant that PC gaming has benefited massively as well. Look at how, just today at the TGS 2024 Xbox showcase, Phil Spencer revealed thatStarcraft 2 and Starcraft remastered are coming to Game Pass, classic PC games that will be unlocked day one for PC Game Pass users on November 5th.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a big game for Bandai Namco at Tokyo Game Show 2024.(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Sony’s new PS5 Pro consoles now share the same price points as powerful gaming PCs.(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
PC gaming hardware is no longer in its own financial ballpark
Another factor that seems to have contributed to PC gaming’s ascendency, in Japan and around the world, is the fact that console hardware continues to leap in price. At TGS 2024, Sony is showcasing its new PS5 consoles, including its standard PS5 Pro and the limited-edition, 30th-anniversary PS5 Pro. The standard system is ringing in for $700 US dollars, though, while the 30th-anniversary PS5 Pro costs $999. Suddenly, new gaming consoles are costing as much as a powerful new gaming PC, and once again that feels market-shifting.
(Image credit: Andrea Salsi)
The PS5 Pro announcement has, if you ask me, given Spencer and Microsoft a boost, and you can feel the optimism here at TGS, especially in a country that has always given Xbox the cold shoulder. Now, of course, it must be seen if Microsoft cancapitalize on the momentum, as recently it’s not been doing a great job of delivering gaming wins, with notable failures likeRedfalldragging its rep down. But the opportunity is there. If Xbox capitalises on it, delivering wins with games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Doom: The Dark Ages, it could make some notable gains.
(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
Post-Kojima Konami is in recovery mode
Following the departure of Konami’s enfant prodigè, Hideo Kojima, the Japanese firm has entered recovery mode in terms of its gaming division (Konami as a holding owns many businesses, from casinos to gyms), leaning heavily on its incomingMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remakein Unreal Engine 5 to hit hard for it financially. Walking around TGS, this is evident. The Metal Gear Solid Delta booth is huge and, at least from what I’ve seen of the game, it looks like it is going to be a winner. At the end of the day, though, itisanother remake, but that’s the state of the industry at the moment, where re-dos are seen as safe, cheaper-to-make-than-a-new-AAA-game bets.
Konami has gone big with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater at Tokyo Game Show 2024.(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
But something else is evident at Konami’s TGS showing: There doesn’t appear to be much else incoming, and that’s led me and other journalists to ask, ‘well, after Delta, what’s next?’ The answer, for now, remains a mystery. However, following EA’s departure from the Fifa licensing agreement, there have been rumours circulating that a new football game could be on the cards for the Japanese company, which historically had great success for a period with its Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer series.
SNK has a huge booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024.(Image credit: Marco Zangirolami)
Finally, SNK is back, and releasing day one on PC
(Image credit: Andrea Salsi)
SNK is promoting Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves hard at TGS 2024. Releasing on PC day one in 2025.(Image credit: Andrea Salsi)
Tomorrow, on Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 3, I’ll return with a report providing some deeper dives into key booths. Until then!
More about gaming industrySplash Damage says layoffs are likely as the Transformers game it announced in 2022 is cancelledNvidia CEO Jensen Huang joins the rush to kiss Trump’s ring: ‘I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him’LatestAsus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forwardSee more latest►
More about gaming industrySplash Damage says layoffs are likely as the Transformers game it announced in 2022 is cancelledNvidia CEO Jensen Huang joins the rush to kiss Trump’s ring: ‘I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him’LatestAsus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forwardSee more latest►
More about gaming industrySplash Damage says layoffs are likely as the Transformers game it announced in 2022 is cancelledNvidia CEO Jensen Huang joins the rush to kiss Trump’s ring: ‘I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him’
More about gaming industry
Splash Damage says layoffs are likely as the Transformers game it announced in 2022 is cancelledNvidia CEO Jensen Huang joins the rush to kiss Trump’s ring: ‘I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him’
Splash Damage says layoffs are likely as the Transformers game it announced in 2022 is cancelled
Splash Damage says layoffs are likely as the Transformers game it announced in 2022 is cancelled
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joins the rush to kiss Trump’s ring: ‘I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him’
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joins the rush to kiss Trump’s ring: ‘I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him’
LatestAsus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forwardSee more latest►
Latest
Asus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forward
Asus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forward
Asus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forward
See more latest►
Most Popular
These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre
Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)
I’ve seen enough: No more forcing singleplayer studios to make mediocre live service games
6 games that could be bigger hits than you’re expecting in 2025
What are your 2025 gaming resolutions?
The FBI put a $5 million bounty on the ‘Cryptoqueen’ last year but still hasn’t found her, so take your pick: Russia, South Africa, or murdered on a yacht in 2018
The Witcher season 4: Everything we know about Hemsworth’s debut on The Continent
8 bold gaming predictions for 2025
The PC game releases we’re most excited about in January
Twitter is dead, X is a cesspit, let’s make 2025 the year of the message board
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1
Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2
Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3
Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4
Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5
Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits
1
Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback
2
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3
WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4
Ikea Utespelare desk review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
