Battlestate Games Skips Tokyo Game Show 2026
The absence of a booth and the signature body pillow gimmick breaks the studio's TGS streak, though Battlestate Games promises alternative community engagement.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
Battlestate Games announced it will not exhibit at Tokyo Game Show 2026, ending a three-year run of attendance since 2023. The studio said its feelings for the Japanese community remain unchanged and it will pursue other ways to meet players. The popular female-version body pillows from previous years-Shturman in 2024 and KABAN in 2025-will not appear this year.
Battlestate Games has decided to sit out Tokyo Game Show 2026, the studio confirmed on Tuesday. The developer of Escape from Tarkov had attended the show every year since 2023, making the 2024 and 2025 editions notable for its official body pillows that turned in-game characters Shturman and KABAN into female versions. This year, neither the booth nor the pillows will be present. The studio said its approach to the Japanese community remains the same and that it is working on other ways to create direct contact with players.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.