For Tokyo Game Show, the post-COVID ¡°new normal¡± looks a lot like the past.

Organizers predictably trumpeted their hopes to hold the ¡°largest ever¡± TGS this year since the pandemic effectively squashed in-person turnout for three straight years prior, and they very nearly made good on those promises. A grand total of walked through the doors of Chiba¡¯s Makuhari Messe convention center between Sept. 21 and 24, with more than 91,000 entrants alone on Sept. 23, the first day open to the general public.

While this year¡¯s overall attendance fell about 19,000 short of 2019¡¯s tally of 262,076, it¡¯s a world and a half away from 2022, when just over 130,000 masked attendees made their way out to Makuhari Messe. In fact, this year¡¯s first public day saw about 5,000 more gamers than what TGS counted back in 2019.