Director Kazuto Sekine has announced that upcoming updates for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls will address the game's most criticized elements, including performance issues on PC and the prevalent use of "assist spam." In a post on Steam, Sekine stated that Arc System Works is actively working on improvements for the PC version to ensure a better player experience.
While the game has received several patches since its release, many players have continued to report ongoing performance problems. Beyond these technical concerns, a significant gameplay adjustment is planned to tackle the issue of assist spam. The developers intend to increase the cooldown period between assist calls. Currently, players can rapidly summon assists, often as early as the first round, which can lead to prolonged pressure sequences and a chaotic visual experience due to the minimal cooldown penalty. This change aims to rebalance the assist mechanic and reduce the perceived "spamminess" of the gameplay.
Sekine also indicated that the game's input system will be updated to eliminate the need for players to hold buttons to buffer attacks. In a notable departure from typical fighting game balance approaches, the team plans to avoid making immediate, drastic character-specific balance adjustments, citing that all fighters currently maintain win percentages between 48% and 52%.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has faced a challenging launch. The Windows PC version initially suffered from significant performance problems that hampered online play. Although subsequent patches have improved stability, the game's performance still lags behind even unofficial modifications that removed its digital rights management, which failed to prevent piracy. This has impacted the game's reception and player count on PC, with SteamDB data showing fewer active players than older titles like Mortal Kombat 11. Despite selling approximately 500,000 copies in its first week, according to Alinea Analytics, the game's launch difficulties and regional availability limitations appear to have hindered its momentum.