Foreign studios enter the Japanese market: two-thirds of the games in the Moscow exposition at TGS were presented in Japanese

TOKYO, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Two-thirds of the games presented by the Moscow Video Game and Animation Cluster (Moscow Game Hub) at Tokyo Game Show 2026 have been localized into Japanese. The cluster, one of the global leaders in video game development, had one of the largest national stands at the exhibition.

Moscow Game Hub is a full-cycle ecosystem for creating video games and animation, from idea and prototype to entry into international markets. Across 55,000 square meters, it has motion capture and sound recording studios, a screening room, an esports arena, and resident offices. Today, the cluster includes 70 companies with more than 250 projects in development. In its first year of operation, it ranked among the industry's top three global leaders.

The Japanese market is a priority for the cluster's studios. They therefore brought to Tokyo not demo builds, but games prepared in advance for Japanese players.

"Japan is the world's third gaming market, and Japanese localization is one of the industry's most expensive. We invest in it deliberately because we see reciprocal interest: Japanese companies are interested in our games and teams. We are looking for partners to bring Moscow studios' projects to Japan, and are ready to act as a production site for foreign projects," noted Anastasia Rybkina, head of the Moscow Game Hub.

The stand's largest section was horror — a genre born in Japanese games and reimagined through Slavic mythology. It included Cauldron Inn by Oxygen Chick, "Zaychik" by Game Art Pioneers, and The Black Ice by Antelus Games. The cluster also showed action games, tactical strategies, visual novels, and a racing simulator, primarily for PC and consoles.

During the exhibition, the studios held more than 200 meetings with publishers, distributors, and service companies. Discussions now cover publishing financing, console releases, localization, and marketing support for foreign-market entry. Japanese studios also expressed demand for Moscow teams' production expertise, primarily in 3D character models and animation.

The cluster is open to foreign companies, providing production infrastructure and help with localization and partner-finding for entry into the Russian-language market. It also serves as a venue for international events: from October 29 to November 1, 2026, the II Moscow International Video Game Week will be held at the Cluster, with representatives from more than 20 countries.