After having some time to digest that State of Play, it was pretty good. Sony came through with a lot of 2026 heat. There were a number of games shown that I’m absolutely looking forward to. But of course, what would any company’s presentation be without a classic “oh yeah, last thing”? And what a gigantic one it was. Arc System Works and Marvel are working together on MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls.
I haven’t been this excited about a fighting game in a while
Seeing those character designs and the Arc System Works logo blew my mind and I’m pretty sure the minds of anyone watching. Personally, I’d given up on seeing another Marvel fighter. Marvel vs Capcom 3 was good, but Infinite? Well, we don’t have to talk about Infinite. It is interesting though to see a Marvel fighter from someone other than Capcom. Clearly Marvel wanted back into that fighting game space, but thought they needed someone else to lay hands on the property.
Fighting game wise, I consider Mortal Kombat to be my first language. And while I never seriously dove into the Marvel vs Capcom series to say I was great at it, I could hold my own with friends. The Arc games though? Oh, I stunk for a while. I’ve gotten better, but recently, I’ve allowed some rest to kick in. As my cousin found out a while back, though, I still do this. Dragon Ball FighterZ was the first Arc game I felt confident about my skills in. If that holds true for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls? It’s gonna be rough for friends and family.
TAG ME IN marvel, IM READY TO FIGHT
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is going beyond the 3v3 system we know in favor of a 4v4 tag system. Lead Battle Designer, Kazuto Sekine explains:
“We went back and forth many times, from thinking we might be better off making a 1v1 game or sticking to the established 3v3 format. At its core, we felt that the appeal of team VS fighting games is the intensity of battles with multiple characters on screen at once. Additionally, one of the appeals of Marvel comics is seeing the vast cast of characters coming together to create all kinds of unique team-ups.”
I can only imagine the type of attacks coming from this. Who better to try to change the tag fighter game than Arc System Works? And there’s a Hulkbuster in the game. Outside of the actual gameplay, this game is gorgeous. It’s colorful and vibrant and the character designs look great. Captain America with that jacket is incredible. Marvel has (mostly) been on a heater gaming wise and I expect this to be another notch in the belt. Since I’m on the subject, can we try Avengers again just without the live service stuff?
As far as character selection, the Arc team seems to be hitting all of the necessary names. But according to them, “we wanted to sprinkle in a few surprises and leave room for characters who have never been playable in a fighting game before“. Cue up the wildly loud speculation machine. Let’s finally make Howard the Duck happen. This game seems to showcase more than enough personality to let that one slide through. Whoever shows up, I’ll be there ready to get into it. I just wish I didn’t have to wait for it. MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is coming out in 2026.
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