It’s perhaps unsurprising that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, Arc System Works’ latest anime‑style fighter featuring Marvel heroes, is struggling at launch on PC. The open beta already revealed performance woes just weeks before yesterday’s release, and negative word‑of‑mouth appears to have dampened the initial player turnout. The title debuted with only a little over half the day‑one Steam audience that Dragon Ball FighterZ, another Arc System Works title, attracted in 2018.
On its first day, Tōkon drew 24,498 players on Steam, a stark contrast to the 44,303 peak that FighterZ achieved in 2018. While the game is also available on PlayStation 5—suggesting a sizable console player base—Steam users have been reporting technical glitches and leaving low ratings.
Since the beta’s launch late last month, players have complained that the game consumes an unusually high amount of PC resources. Some speculate this may stem from the requirement to sign into PlayStation Network, which could trigger additional background processes that drain CPU and memory. However, Kotaku’s own beta testing indicates that the game’s demands are intrinsic to its design.
Lewis Parker of Kotaku noted that during the beta, the game frequently monopolised over 95 % of his CPU and at times consumed up to 5 GB of RAM. He also observed that six instances of the PlayStation PC SDK Runtime launched alongside the game, though these had negligible impact on system resources.
The full title has finally launched, yet reports suggest that performance issues have stubbornly persisted over the past two weeks, with Linux players reporting particularly severe difficulties.
A Steam reviewer lamented, “The game is terribly optimized; the developers should have delayed the PC release until these problems were resolved. I play Tekken and SF6 at Ultra and never drop below 60fps. I love this title, but right now it’s in a rough spot. Wait for a hotfix before buying.”
Earlier today, Arc System Works issued a statement thanking fans for their enthusiasm on launch day and confirmed that they are “investigating” problems affecting the PC version of Tōkon, though no specific details were disclosed.
The studio added, “Thank you for an amazing launch day! Watching everyone dive into the action has been truly remarkable.”
The development team is actively investigating the reported issues and urges players to keep submitting feedback, as it is essential for pinpointing and resolving the problem.
Meanwhile, a number of PC players have noted a smooth experience with no noticeable performance hiccups, indicating that the impact may vary depending on the system configuration.
During an eight‑hour marathon with friends on launch day, I observed no significant performance degradation on the PS5, aside from the occasional network lag.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why did Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls have a rough launch on Steam?
The game suffered from performance problems that were already evident during its open beta, and negative word‑of‑mouth from early players dampened the initial turnout. Steam users reported frequent crashes, low frame rates, and high CPU/memory usage, which contributed to a muted launch and low player engagement.
How many players did Marvel Tōkon attract on its first day compared to Dragon Ball FighterZ?
On its first day, Marvel Tōkon drew 24,498 players on Steam, whereas Dragon Ball FighterZ peaked at 44,303 players in 2018. This means Marvel Tōkon attracted roughly half the day‑one audience of the earlier Arc System Works title.
What are the main technical issues reported by Steam users?
Steam players have reported that the game consumes an unusually high amount of PC resources, experiences frequent crashes, and suffers from low frame rates. Some speculate that the requirement to sign into PlayStation Network may trigger background processes that drain CPU and memory, but Kotaku’s beta testing suggests these demands are intrinsic to the game’s design.
News Source: Kotaku
Comments
Be the first to comment.