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BitSummit PUNCH Sets All-Time Attendance Record of 68,208 Visitors

The attendance record signals that Japan's largest indie game showcase continues to grow in scale and international reach, with the Catalan pavilion doubling its lineup and the event's board game corner thriving despite overlapping with Game Market.

Key Facts

  • BitSummit PUNCH drew 68,208 total visitors, a 17 percent increase from the previous year.
  • The event featured over 120 titles in its Official Selection area.
  • The Catalan Arts Digital Culture booth presented 12 titles, double its 2025 count.
  • Pro Jank Footy by Powerbomb Games offers over 200 power-ups and was playable at the venue.
  • The next event, BitSummit PUNCH 2, is scheduled for May 21 to 23, 2027.

Reporting from 5 sources: 4Gamer.net, Denfaminicogamer, ASCII.jp, Inside, and 1 more.

BitSummit PUNCH Sets All-Time Attendance Record of 68,208 Visitors

The indie game festival BitSummit PUNCH, held at Kyoto's Miyako Messe from May 22 to 24, 2026, drew a record 68,208 total visitors, surpassing the previous year's count by 17 percent. The event, the 14th edition of the annual festival, featured over 120 titles in its Official Selection area alone, plus dedicated zones for indie publishers, unique controllers, board games, and student works. Among the notable on-site attractions was the roguelite sports game Pro Jank Footy by Powerbomb Games, which offers over 200 chaotic power-ups including blue screens and giant players. A collaboration between Shueisha Games' Schrödinger's Call and indie developer Odencat let visitors collect stickers of the two games' cat mascots talking on the phone. The Catalan Arts Digital Culture booth from Spain presented 12 titles, double its 2025 count, including the action game Train Attack by Undercoders. The next event, BitSummit PUNCH 2, is scheduled for May 21 to 23, 2027.

The 14th edition of the event spanned two floors of Miyako Messe. The venue was organized into several distinct zones. The "Developer" area, the core of the festival, held over 120 Official Selection titles. The "INDIE PUBLISHERS" zone lined the walls on both floors, with some booths themed to match their games' worlds. The "UNIQUE CONTROLLER" section on the third floor offered games with unconventional play styles. Student works and game jam exhibits were nearby. The "BOARD GAME" corner on the first floor was slightly smaller than in previous years, which the sources attributed to the concurrent "Game Market 2026 Spring" in Tokyo.

Several board game titles were on display. Asakusa Games showed "Otsukare! Obake-chan," a card game based on UNO where players manage a "drunkenness" level. SUSABI GAMES featured the competitive card game "Idol Alive," which is planned for a VR adaptation. Harvest Valley & TANSAN exhibited "Drosselmeyer-san's Movie Production Committee," the latest in its Yuru Game series. ClaGla presented "Gummy Choco Papaya Revolution," a game based on the traditional game "Guriko." HEY! HEY! held advance sales of "NEW OLD," a hand management game using clean "new cards" and worn-design "old cards."

Rails exhibited "ChaseBoard," a collaboration with "Re:VER PROJECT -TOKYO-," a survival adventure co-developed by Toei Animation and Nestpie. "ChaseBoard" is an asymmetric competitive game where one player hides as the protagonist and one or more players search as investigators. The board is constructed from cards, generating a random map each game.

Powerbomb Games' "Pro Jank Footy" was playable at the venue. Its creative director and lead developer is David Ashby, a screenwriter known for comedy films like "DANGER 5" and "Italian Spiderman," and film director Tyler Roach. The full version is planned to include cooperative play, online multiplayer, and a season mode with deck-building elements.

The Catalan Arts Digital Culture booth from Spain presented 12 titles, double its 2025 count. Among them was "Train Attack" by Undercoders, set for release on June 18. Game director David Jaumandreu said the game features all prefectures of Japan with over 60 stages, and that a fully Japanese-dubbed version will be released on May 29. The Barcelona game event "BCN Game Fest" has been renamed "Saga Barcelona Game Fest" after integrating two local events, and will be held October 9 to 11 at Fira de Barcelona.

Synthesized by Yomimono from the 5 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.

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