TGS 2026 Panel Explores How XR Live Concerts Make Idols Feel Real
At Tokyo Game Show 2026, held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, a TGS Forum session titled “What Are the Conditions for Making Virtual Things Real? Reading Next-Gen Game Development Through Live Examples” took place on September 18, 2026. The panel explored how characters born in games come to feel genuinely present when they stand on a real stage. Discussion centered on Chihaya Kisaragi’s solo concert “OathONE” at Nippon Budokan. Speakers included Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Yoshimoto, REZ&’s Nobuaki Kazoe, Sony Group’s Akira Nakano, and Sony PCL’s Takahiro Kozuki, moderated by Nikkei Cross Tech reporter Masahiro Azuma.
The panel framed XR as cross reality, fusing physical and electronic worlds. The session deliberately excluded purely streaming virtual lives, focusing instead on audiences gathering at real venues to watch characters perform on physical stages. Yoshimoto said that over two and a half years, xR live efforts spanned 23 titles and 76 performances, featuring more than 100 characters across 11 cities, including nine domestic and two overseas. REZ& handled OathONE’s direction and xR stage design, while Sony PCL proposed the groovots robot system. Kazoe recalled the 2024 twin live “Hangetsu de Aetara,” where no cheers arose at first, only to learn afterward that fans were simply too moved to shout.
OathONE combined a center stage with an outer LED ring the team nicknamed a “birdcage,” a hanamichi walkway, groovots, and fire effects. groovots are LED-display robots that move across the stage; Nakano introduced the nimble medium “5D” and the large “7D” model able to show life-size characters. They supported scenes of Chihaya walking the hanamichi and rotating robots displaying idol colors. Nakano stressed battery-powered, wireless operation for quiet movement, drawing on Sony’s drone wireless knowledge, aibo-related image processing, and compact high-capacity batteries. The same technology also served idol group 22/7.
Kozuki introduced “INTO THE WORLD” YOASOBI -Concept Prototype-, which visualizes the novel behind “Yoru ni Kakeru,” based on “Thanatos no Yuwaku,” before connecting it to a live performance. He noted ticketing limits and the chance to create new business and access. Yoshimoto, who tried it, saw it as another angle of immersion rather than a replacement. On challenges, Kozuki pointed to real-time interaction, while Nakano cited motor miniaturization and LiDAR sensors. Panelists joked about Star Wars-style holograms and, looking toward 2035, envisioned more participatory experiences. For fans of these characters, that roadmap is worth watching.
