Category
Game Conferences and Events in Japan
Game events in Japan fall into two broad groups: technical conferences where engineers and designers share how games are made, and showcases where developers put playable work in front of players.
Many editions welcome students. Decide whether you are attending to learn or exhibiting your own work first, and the list narrows quickly.
At a glance
- Upcoming and ongoing
- 16
- Main locations
- Tokyo (8), Osaka (3), 5 other regionsEvents held in several cities are counted once per location
- Main audiences
- Engineers (15), Developers (13), Students (12)
- Busiest months
- November 2026 (6), October 2026 (2), December 2026 (2)
- Series running 10+ years
- 7 (of 12 with a known founding year)
Upcoming
CAPCOM Open Conference RE:2026 Osaka
Capcom's technical conference opening up the internals and production know-how of its in-house RE ENGINE. Returning after three years, it expands to two cities, Tokyo and Osaka. Both days, October 17-18, run the student track. Sessions reach into rendering and AI-driven QA automation on shipping titles. Free to attend, with a lottery if applications exceed capacity.
Tokyo Game Dungeon 14
The 14th edition of the indie game exhibition for solo developers and small teams. Held three to four times a year in Hamamatsucho since its 2022 launch, this edition hosts 340 exhibitors (18 corporate, 322 general) across two floors of the Industrial Trade Center. Its first-come exhibitor registration and low booth fees keep the developer-first spirit intact, making it a fixture for playtesting and creator networking.
Unreal Fest Tokyo 2026
Epic Games Japan's official large-scale Unreal Engine conference, combining talks, exhibits, and hands-on access to the latest technology. Sessions cover game development alongside film, architecture, automotive, and other industries, all free to attend. Established since its 2014 debut, the previous edition drew a record 1,800 attendees. The 2026 edition runs two days at Tokyo Big Sight TFT Hall in Ariake, with a livestream for satellite venues across Japan.
DigiGame Expo 2026
A doujin and indie-game-only exhibition and market running since 2013, held every autumn at Akihabara UDX. Games across PC, smartphone, and console platforms are sold and demoed in one place. Distinctively, game engines and middleware vendors have been welcomed from the start, and media attendance is high. A long-running event bridging doujin market culture and the indie game industry.
CEDEC+KYUSHU 2026
One of Kyushu's largest conferences for game developers, co-hosted with CESA at Kyushu Sangyo University in Fukuoka. A single day packs practical technical talks, an indie game showcase, and hands-on content demos. Time-shifted streaming, offered since 2020, reaches audiences nationwide, and the previous edition drew over 3,000 registrations, an exceptional scale for a regional event.
Unite Tokyo 2026
The Japanese edition of Unity Technologies' annual conference for game developers, returning after a seven-year absence since 2019. That last edition drew roughly 5,000 attendees over two days, making it among Japan's largest Unity gatherings and a concentrated venue for engine updates and studio development case studies. The venue is Bellesalle Shibuya Garden, with four ticket tiers on sale and early-bird pricing running through September 30.
Kobe Game Labyrinth 2026
Kobe's only indie game showcase, where visitors freely play unreleased titles and talk directly with the developers. It takes place at Kobe Denshi College's student hall on the same day as the school festival. The previous edition drew 54 exhibited works and roughly 400 visitors. Admission and exhibiting are both free, and a booth category for high school clubs has been added.
Indie Developers Conference 2026
A talk-driven conference aimed squarely at solo and small-team indie game developers. Unlike showcase-style events, it covers marketing, publishing, and post-release operations alongside development technique. The previous edition featured room6, PLAYISM, Epic Games, and ID@Xbox. An archive-only pass is also offered.
GTMF 2026 (Game Tools & Middleware Forum)
An exhibition-and-seminar event specializing in tools and middleware for game development, run by IID across two venues, Osaka (Dec 2) and Tokyo (Dec 8). Vendors of engines, sound, QA, and AI solutions gather so that engineers and creators can compare the latest development environments for free. Its 2026 edition is the 21st, making it one of Japan's leading developer-focused events.
Osaka Game Dungeon 2
The Osaka edition of Tokyo Game Dungeon, launched in late 2025 as a hands-on showcase for self-made digital games. It is open to individuals, students, doujin circles, and small teams, allocating booths first-come rather than by jury. The second edition expands to 1.9 times the floor area and 160 booths. Under-18s enter free all day, and admission is free after 16:00.
Tokyo Game Dungeon 15
An exhibition of indie games made by individuals and small teams in Japan. It accepts applications first-come-first-served with no jury screening, offering an affordable exhibitor fee and well-equipped booths. The organizer is himself a solo developer and keeps the event a gathering of game-making peers rather than a business matchmaking floor. Held several times a year, it sets aside around 300 exhibitor slots.
Game Creators Conference '27
A Kansai-born conference for game developers, hosted in Osaka by the Digital Entertainment Creators Association (DECA). Combining talks, exhibitor booths, and a networking reception, it serves as a hub for the Kansai developer community in an industry calendar otherwise concentrated in Tokyo. The 2027 edition takes place at Grand Cube Osaka under the theme of connection driving the next wave of creation.
Tokyo Game Dungeon 16
An exhibition of indie games made by individuals and small teams in Japan. It accepts applications first-come-first-served with no jury screening, offering an affordable exhibitor fee and well-equipped booths. The organizer is himself a solo developer and keeps the event a gathering of game-making peers rather than a business matchmaking floor. It runs several times a year from its base in Hamamatsucho, Tokyo.
BitSummit 2027
Japan's largest indie game festival, held annually at Miyako Messe in Kyoto. The 2026 edition ("BitSummit PUNCH") set a record with 68,208 visitors and 496 booths over three days. Built around hands-on demos where developers from Japan and abroad let visitors play their new titles directly, it also serves as a meeting point with publishers and international media. The 2027 dates (May 21-23) were announced at the closing ceremony.
CEDEC 2027
Japan's largest technical conference for game developers, organized by CESA. Around 200 sessions run over three days across fields including engineering, visual arts, sound, game design and academic research. It exists so implementation knowledge crosses company boundaries, and it has raised the technical baseline of Japanese computer entertainment development for over two decades. The 2027 edition is again a hybrid of PACIFICO Yokohama North and online.
Tokyo Game Show 2027
Japan's largest game trade show, organized by CESA. Business days open the run and public days close it, as developers and publishers from Japan and abroad unveil new titles together. The 30th-anniversary 2026 edition expanded to five days for the first time, but a typhoon cancelled the final day, leaving 257,000 visitors across four. The 2027 edition returns to a five-day run on September 16-20.
Series without a listed next edition
Most recent edition shown, newest first. Next dates are added once officially announced.