CEDEC 2026 (Computer Entertainment Developers Conference)
Overview
Japan's largest conference for game developers, running since 1999. Roughly 200 sessions span engineering, visual arts, sound, and game design, making it the country's central gathering of game and entertainment development expertise. The 2026 edition again runs three days at Pacifico Yokohama North in hybrid format with online attendance.
Foundation
- Founded
- 1999
- Founder
- First held in 1999 by industry association CESA as the "CESA Developers Conference"
Established as a venue for sharing game and computer-entertainment development technology and knowledge across company lines to raise the industry's overall technical capability.
Transition
- 1999 First held as the CESA Developers Conference
- 2022 Recorded 9,739 total attendees (including online)
- 2023 Returned to a hybrid format with an in-person venue (Pacifico Yokohama North) for the first time in four years
- 2025 Keynotes by Kunihiro Tanaka (SAKURA internet) and Ryozo Tsujimoto (Capcom)
- 2026 Confirmed for July 22-24 in hybrid format at Pacifico Yokohama North plus online
Voices
Attending in person adds the speakers' passion and the venue's atmosphere — an immediacy that slides alone cannot deliver.
Detailed session reports keep circulating in the community well after the event, so the learning continues.
With every game-development discipline in one place, you can touch the frontier of fields outside your own specialty.
A game programmer compared how large studios and indies approach development across sessions on generative AI and level design (from Haruneko's report, in Japanese)
An indie developer went from open call to speaking before a full house of about 150, gaining visibility and trust (from Daraneko's report, in Japanese)
In the News
- How Monster Hunter began, revisited through its original proposal and design documents: 21 years of continuity and design in the Monster Hunter series [CEDEC 2025] (in Japanese)
- Astro Bot never leaves players lost: 30 level design points for brisk play [CEDEC 2025] (in Japanese)
- CEDEC AWARDS 2025 honors game developers: top prizes announced in each category, with wins for the development teams behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Astro Bot (in Japanese)
AI Expo Summer 2026
The summer edition of the AI-focused exhibition hosted by AIsmiley, operator of Japan's AI portal media. Over 100 companies present 200+ AI solutions alongside 40+ conference sessions. Following the Spring 2026 edition at Tokyo International Forum, it moves to Sankaku Hiroba at the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building. Free to attend, it serves companies comparing generative AI and AI agent products.
Innovation Japan 2026 (University Trade Fair)
Japan's largest university-industry matching event, hosted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Patented technology seeds from universities nationwide are exhibited for matching with corporate R&D and new business teams. The 2025 edition drew about 14,000 visitors to 291 exhibited seeds. Less a startup conference and more a trade fair that seeds technology transfer and joint research.
Open Developers Conference 2026
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