Closing out Sony's State of Play was a surprise I don't think anyone saw coming. Arc System Works, developer of the critically acclaimed Guilty Gear series, is working on a new Marvel fighting game!
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is a 4v4 tag team fighter with "reimagined characters and stages, a heart-pounding soundtrack, intuitive gameplay mechanics, and jaw-dropping visuals that will keep you on the edge of your seat."
An announcement trailer today gave us a glimpse of the intense combat and iconic Marvel heroes and villains, each with a unique twist on their character designs and gameplay styles. Among the characters seen are Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes), though more are likely to be revealed as we get closer to the game's launch.
“One of the mantras that we have for this project is, ‘From Japan to the World’," explained Senior Producer (PlayStation Studios XDEV) Reed Baird. "And really trying to take not just the IP but the gameplay mechanics and say, ‘What can we take from Japan, the creators that are doing awesome work here, and bring that to the global platform?’”
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls will almost certainly have a huge competitive scene, but the game is being designed in a way that it's approachable for everyone. Arc has designed the gameplay with intuitive controls that are easy to learn, while still providing the depth and flexibility needed for high-level competitive play. Each character features a set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks inspired by their abilities and powers in Marvel lore.
“From the beginning, we aimed to make MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls a title that could be enjoyed by a wide variety of players,” explained Game Director and Lead Battle Designer, Kazuto Sekine.
”Generally, a team VS fighting game requires the player to learn multiple characters, but for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, you only need to master one character in order to play the game," he continued. " We have designed the mechanics in such a way that you can perform a variety of actions with either traditional fighting game inputs or simple inputs. With the press of a few buttons, multiple characters can appear on screen to provide backup or attack together – creating a new and exciting team VS battle experience.”
It's unclear how large the roster for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls will be, but Arc Producer Takeshi Yamanaka explained the criteria that went into selecting which characters to include.
"First and foremost, we wanted to include characters who we feel to be the ‘face’ of Marvel," Yamanaka said. "At the same time, we also needed to select characters that would give us a balance of battle types and styles. Lastly, we wanted to sprinkle in a few surprises and leave room for characters who have never been playable in a fighting game before.”
Today's reveal was just the tip of the iceberg. Arc promises more characters and stages, as well as gameplay modes, will be revealed in the coming weeks and months. MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Soul will be released on PlayStation 5 and PC in 2026.