Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is a 2026 fighting game developed by Arc System Works and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was officially announced in June 2025, and was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 6, 2026.
Featuring characters appearing in Marvel Comics publications, the game is premised on a tag team system that entails beginning matches with a single fighter and an assist character. A full lineup of four characters is gradually unlocked by fulfilling mid-match conditions such as damage accumulation and "Wall Breaks" that transition fights across multiple arenas in a stage, culminating in 4v4 gameplay that alternates between assist-based combat with singular characters and an active tag mechanic that enables players to control other fighters in their lineup. The game features both online casual and ranked multiplayer modes with full cross-platform play support between PS5 and PC, alongside offline single-player content, including arcade mode and a full story mode.
SIE's interest in creating a new first-party fighting game led them to approach Marvel Games following their successful collaboration on the Marvel's Spider-Man series. Sony courted Arc System Works to develop the title with Marvel's approval. Production began with the goal of incorporating a system deemed approachable for newcomers to the fighting game genre, but with a depth that satisfied the game's potential for competitive play. The game's roster accommodates Arc System Works' variety of gameplay archetypes, comprising major Marvel characters and obscure selections that have not appeared in previous Marvel fighting games.
Gameplay Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is a 2.5D fighting game in which players compete against each other in tag team combat using an ensemble of Marvel Comics characters. Players must knock out the opponent on the opposing team through repeated attacks which drain a health bar. Iterating on other tag fighters and previous Marvel-based fighting games such as the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise, Fighting Souls employs a 4v4 system which allows the player to alternate between a setup of one primary character and three assist fighters who can be called in for additional offense, or an active tag system enabling the "leader" to be swapped out for other fighters during the match and individually controlled. When matches begin, players will be restricted to only using their primary character and a single assist fighter, gradually enabling access to their full team as they fulfill certain mid-match conditions such as "Wall Breaks", a returning mechanic from the Arc System Works title Guilty Gear Strive (2021), that is triggered when a combo or high-damaging move is performed in the corner of the arena.
Contrasting other tag-based fighters and previous Marvel titles, teams in Fighting Souls all share a single health bar, known as a Vital Gauge, that extends over the course of a round as more of a player's team is made accessible. Assist mechanics are represented by an "Assemble Gauge", with each character's move being dictated by the type of attack mode they are designated by the player during character selection. Forward Assist types are relegated to using projectile attacks for disrupting other fighters as an example, while Downward Assists are more effective for anti-air interruptions. The assist characters can then be tagged in and controlled either right before, or immediately after landing an attack, which is known in-game as a "Crossover". Like Granblue Fantasy Versus and Versus Rising, the control schemes of Fighting Souls features Light, Medium and Heavy Normal Attacks, and a Unique Attack that draws on a particular ability associated with the character such as Captain America throwing his shield, or Iron Man firing a series of repulsor blasts. A third "Skill Gauge" allows fighters to consume some meter for performing higher-damage EX attacks or a cinematic Ultimate Skill when completely filled, and can be used in conjunction with the Assemble Gauge to chain multiple Ultimate Skills across a whole team together, similar to the Delayed Hyper Combo mechanic (DHC) in Marvel vs. Capcom games. Additionally, an All-Out Attack-based Tōkon Assemble can only be used when the player is in danger where the opponent wins two out of three rounds, and all three members are available to use alongside the additional assist and skill gauges that requires to be filled at maximum level, with the ending cinematic sequence ends with the main member finishes the opponent.
Like previous Arc System Works titles such as Strive and Dragon Ball FighterZ (2018), Fighting Souls features stages that encompass multiple distinct areas with visual iconography drawn from the Marvel Universe, and are cycled through mid-match when initiating Wall Breaks.
The game's primary single player mode is "Episode Mode", which features storylines for each of the five teams that culminate in boss battles against the Promoter and the Champion.
Playable characters The base roster features twenty playable characters, split evenly between five teams of four, plus one unlockable character. At least four additional characters are planned as downloadable content (DLC).
Amazing Guardians
Fighting Avengers
Knights of Doom
Samurai Outriders
Unbreakable X-Men
Unlockable Boss
Season 1 DLC
Plot The Champion, an Elder of the Universe who has destroyed multiple worlds that have failed to produce worthy opponents, has chosen Earth as his next target after destroying Chandilar, the Shi'ar home planet. His Promoter announces "The Challenge of the Champion", forcing teams of fighters to compete in qualifying rounds before they can challenge the Champion himself. The Promoter chooses several heroes to lead teams of four — per the Champion's decision as an homage to the Fantastic Four — who must compete in the tournament before being allowed to challenge the Champion and attempt to prevent Earth's destruction.
Fighting Avengers After defeating Gargantos with the current Avengers roster, Captain America makes it to the newly christened Avengers Park in New York, which features a statue of him, Iron Man, and Thor Odinson, but feels guilty that Hulk is not among the honored, ever since he lost control of himself at the end of Kree-Skrull War that caused him to be banished to Savage Land. Suddenly, the Promoter appears and hands Steve his invitation before announcing the tournament, sending the world into a panic. He and Iron Man had a brief fight for their team's leadership, until the latter admit his defeat. Later, both men goes to Wakanda to acquire data about the Champion and to recruit Shuri, who has become the new Black Panther and Queen following an attack on the country by Doom that left her brother T'Challa incapacitated. They then venture to the Savage Land to recruit the Hulk, who is still bitter towards his former teammates after they exiled him there. Despite his reservations, he agrees to join them, forming the Fighting Avengers.
As the Avengers defeat the opposing teams in the tournament, Iron Man gathers intel from other individuals such as Peni, Danger, and Doom to find out what the Champion truly does with the losing worlds, eventually discovering he places them in a pocket dimension and forces them to constantly exercise and fight. After they overcome the Champion once, Captain America challenges him to an all or nothing battle to release the other captured worlds, feeling they shouldn't be abandoned. Hulk forgives Steve and agrees to fight alongside him. The Champion is defeated after getting knocked into Avengers Park, where he releases the other worlds and vows to come fight them again. In the aftermath, Avengers Park is reopened with an updated statue including Hulk alongside the heroes, Shuri is accepted as the new Black Panther by her people, and Iron Man begins creating a new armor using the design of Peni's Sp//dr as an inspiration.
Unbreakable X-Men Following a recent clash with a Phoenix-possessed Cyclops, the Promoter sent an invitation letter to Professor X off-screen for the X-Men's participation to the Champion's tournament on Earth. Storm steps up to lead the team in the challenge of the Champion while the rest of the team recovers at the X-Mansion, joined by Magik and Wolverine. Magik is unstable due to the Champion's presence disrupting Limbo, and Wolverine's healing factor is limited due to the aforementioned struggle. Danger joins the team after her AI gains sentience and creates a body for herself once she discovers the destruction of Chandilar. Magneto offers to join the team, but is ultimately rejected when he refuses to align with Professor X's ideals, instead allying with Doom.
Throughout their fights, Danger learns more about life from their interactions with other opponents as well as the discrimination mutants face on a regular basis. When the X-Men eventually defeat the Champion, he offers to protect mutants while eliminating humans, but the X-Men refuse and face him again to protect humanity. After triumphing once more, the Champion offers his help in erasing the hatred of mutants, but Storm refuses, knowing it's not as easy as it sounds. After learning from the Promoter that the Shi'ar were not destroyed but imprisoned, Danger requests that the captured worlds be released, which the Champion obliges to. When they return home, they find some of the people initially protesting against them have started siding with them as a result of their actions. Danger chooses to stay on Earth to learn more about life, while the X-Men fully recuperate and continue their quest to fight for mutant and human coexistence.
The Amazing Guardians Putting the safety of the planet over a party at his Aunt May's, Spider-Man attempts to gather a team, but immediately finds himself in hot water when the Green Goblin steals his tournament invite while he saves Ms. Marvel from peril. Star-Lord joins Spider-Man on the promise he gets a portion of the prize for winning the tournament. Peni Parker, along with her mech Sp//dr, who were displaced from their universe by the Champion's cosmic power causing a dimensional shift, are also brought on to the team. Despite being green, Ms. Marvel is accepted as well. Calling themselves the Amazing Guardians, the foursome enter the tournament, forging an invite via Sp//dr to replace the one Green Goblin stole, which the Promoter accepts to spite the Knights of Doom.
After they defeat the X-Men, Storm and Professor X learn that Ms. Marvel has an X-Gene that is still safely dormant when she first mutated into an Inhuman, and believe she will play an important role in the future. Once all opposing teams are defeated, the Amazing Guardians face off against the Champion, where they learn what he does with the captured worlds. Despite barely overcoming him after the first round, they battle his stronger forms when Spider-Man wishes for him to free the captive worlds. When they ultimately triumph, the Champion takes in Spider-Man's mantra of "With great power comes great responsibility" to fulfill all their wishes. After restoring the captured worlds, he returns Peni to her home dimension and helps her battle a cosmic threat she observed, gifts Star-Lord his belt to exchange for riches alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy, and grants Ms. Marvel's request to return Peter Parker to Aunt May. Ms. Marvel continues her superhero career and takes selfies with everyone she teams up with.
The Knights of Doom