Players launching Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls on PC today are encountering significant performance problems that were present during the game's open beta, despite developer Arc System Works' assurances of a day-one patch. Reports indicate that the issues persist regardless of system specifications, with players describing a near unplayable experience due to dropped frame rates and stuttering.
One Reddit user explained that the performance problems are a server-side issue that cannot be resolved by the player, stating, "It's a problem that [Arc System has] to fix on their side, you can't do anything about it. You could be running a 5090 with a 9800X3D at the lowest settings and it'll still happen."
Beyond general performance, users attempting to play Marvel Tokon on Steam Deck via Steam OS/Linux have found that the game will not launch. A community manager's response on Discord, suggesting that Linux support is akin to requesting a Nintendo Switch port, has drawn criticism, particularly as Easy Anti-Cheat, which the game utilizes, is known to have broad Linux compatibility.
Arc System Works has released details regarding its day-one patch, which includes several optimizations aimed at PC performance. These updates focus on reducing CPU load by removing unnecessary character animation updates and improving the user interface's efficiency. The patch also addresses issues where performance degraded when running applications that use overlays or capture video, such as OBS Studio and Discord.
Further PC-specific fixes include an anti-aliasing option integrated into automatic graphics quality settings to prevent unintended load increases, and a feature to adjust the update frequency of stage background characters, which can reduce CPU load on lower settings. The developer has also made shader warm-up prompts more prominent and fixed an issue where it would run unintentionally. For the Steam version, a fix aims to reduce input delay during online matches. The PlayStation 5 version received additional measures to mitigate input lag.
Other general fixes include addressing monitor switching issues on multi-monitor setups, preventing player invisibility in online lobbies after viewing rankings, and correcting screen distortion in ranked modes with large numbers. Communication stability between the client and game servers has been improved, and an issue causing crashes when rapidly using the mouse in menus has been resolved. Performance reductions caused by large amounts of text on screen, particularly in Arabic or Thai, have also been addressed. Finally, the game will now prevent itself from becoming unplayable if the network connection is lost during the Challenger Alert screen.
Gameplay adjustments include input prioritization changes for specific command sequences, such as after 41236, to ensure more accurate activation of 623. The input handling for ground dashes has also been revised, allowing for cancellation into skills from a ground dash to reduce the accidental triggering of aerial special moves.
Looking ahead, Arc System Works has unveiled a roadmap for upcoming DLC, with the first new fighter, Phoenix Cyclops, set to arrive this fall. This character originates from the 2012 Avengers vs. X-Men comic event, where Cyclops was infused with a portion of the Phoenix Force, transforming him into a god-like being. This suggests the potential for other members of the Phoenix 5 to be added to the roster in the future.