Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the latest offering from acclaimed developer Arc System Works, has encountered a rocky launch on Steam, garnering a 'Mixed' user rating following widespread reports of performance issues and a mandatory PlayStation Network login. The game, which comes from the studio behind popular titles like Guilty Gear and Blazblue, has seen approximately 10,000 concurrent players according to SteamDB, a significant figure for a $60 release, yet many are expressing disappointment.
A primary point of contention is the game's performance on PC. Numerous players have noted significantly lower frame rates compared to other modern fighting games such as Tekken and Street Fighter. One user reported struggling to maintain 45 frames per second, a critical issue for a genre that demands precise timing and rapid responses. Online play has also been affected, with players describing "rollback spikes" attributed to either poor netcode or the aforementioned performance problems. Concerns have been raised about the game's CPU utilization, with one user on Reddit stating it is "bonkers" and questioning why it struggles on lower-end hardware. These issues arise despite developer assurances of improved performance for launch day.
Might Tōkon's integration of Easy Anti-Cheat has also created friction, particularly for Linux users. Despite previous Arc System Works titles utilizing the same anti-cheat system and functioning on Linux, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls reportedly blocks players outright, a situation described by one Steam reviewer as "aggressively hostile." This is in stark contrast to games like Dragon Ball FighterZ, which do not face such limitations on the platform.
The forced PlayStation Network sign-in has become another significant criticism. This requirement mirrors the controversy surrounding Helldivers 2 in May 2024, where a similar late-stage addition of a PSN login alienated players who had already purchased the game. The frustration stems from players being required to create or maintain an account for a platform they may not use, especially when purchasing a game without prior warning of such a dependency.
Despite these technical and login-related criticisms, early player numbers suggest a considerable interest in the game. The peak concurrent player count is reportedly two-thirds of the figure seen during the Fighting Souls Open Beta and falls just below the launch day peaks of Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive. While SteamDB data offers an incomplete picture, the volume of player complaints indicates that Arc System Works is aware of the issues impacting the game's reception. The hope among fans is that these technical shortcomings will be addressed in upcoming patches, allowing the underlying gameplay, which has been praised as having "the sauce," to shine through.