MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls Announced for 2026

Today, a groundbreaking collaboration between PlayStation Studios, fighting game maestros Arc System Works (Arc), and Marvel Games was officially announced, revealing MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls. It will be a brand-new 4v4 tag team fighter set to launch in 2026 on PS5, Steam, and Epic.

MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls – Designed for All Skill Levels

Arc has meticulously crafted the game to be accessible to both newcomers and fighting game veterans. Kazuto Sekine, Game Director and Lead Battle Designer, emphasized this inclusivity: “From the beginning, we aimed to make MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls a title that could be enjoyed by a wide variety of players.” He highlighted a key innovation, noting that players only need to master one character to jump into the action, with mechanics designed to allow for a variety of actions using either traditional fighting game inputs or simpler commands. The ability for multiple characters to provide backup or attack together with the press of a few buttons is set to create a truly unique and exciting team VS battle experience.

Michael Francisco, Senior Product Development Manager at Marvel Games, expressed immense confidence in the partnership: “Since day one, our long-time and trusted collaborators at PlayStation and the team at Arc System Works have poured incredible amounts of talent and passion into reimagining the Marvel Universe in a way that only they can.” He further praised Arc as “absolute masters of their craft” and “true Marvel fans at heart,” assuring players that they are “in for a wild ride.”

An Iconic Roster with an Arc Twist

The initial character reveal boasts an impressive lineup of iconic Marvel heroes and villains, including Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes). Each character will feature Arc’s signature twist on their design and gameplay style.

Takeshi Yamanaka, Arc Producer, shed light on the character selection process. Their criteria focused on including the “face” of Marvel, ensuring a balance of battle types and styles, and adding “a few surprises” by including characters never before playable in a fighting game. Yamanaka-san also revealed a shift in the game’s visual direction: “Early on in the project, we experimented with a shader to recreate a more western comic-book visual style, but the Marvel team expressed a desire for us to lean into something more Arc-like. It was then that we switched our approach to the game’s visuals and began to lean more into the Japanimation style Arc is known for.”

Revolutionizing Tag Team Combat

Beyond individual character gameplay, a significant focus has been placed on redefining the tag team fighter genre. Sekine-san shared insights into the decision-making process behind the 4v4 format, noting extensive discussions within the development team. “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,” he explained. Combining this with the appeal of seeing the vast cast of Marvel characters team up, they concluded that a 4v4 team VS system was the optimal way to create “over-the-top moments” and evolve the genre.

Today’s announcement is just the beginning. The developers teased that much more information is on the horizon, including further details on characters, stages, gameplay modes, and the online experience. Stay tuned for more updates on MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls as 2026 approaches!

Gaming