Arc System Works, the developer of the Guilty Gear series, is making a 4v4 Marvel fighting game called Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls for Sony.
Announced during Sony’s State of Play June 2025, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is due out on PS5 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store at some point in 2026.
In a post on PlayStation Blog, Reed Baird, Senior Producer, XDEV, PlayStation Studios, confirmed the inclusion of iconic Marvel heroes and villains such as Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) – each with Arc’s unique twist on their character designs and gameplay styles.
A 4v4 tag fighting game sounds overwhelming, but Game Director and Lead Battle Designer, Kazuto Sekine, insisted that wouldn't be the case.
"Generally, a team VS fighting game requires the player to learn multiple characters, but for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, you only need to master one character in order to play the game," Sekine said.
"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.”
Visually, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has the Japanimation style Arc system Works is known for. As for gameplay mechanics, each character has a bespoke set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks inspired by their abilities and powers in Marvel lore. And of course there are cinematic Ultimate Skills.
“Team VS fighting games have a long tradition of 2v2 or 3v3 team formats, so this is something we discussed in-depth within the development team," Sekine added. "We went back and forth many times, from thinking we might be better off making a 1v1 game or sticking to the established 3v3 format.
"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. Additionally, one of the appeals of Marvel comics is seeing the vast cast of characters coming together to create all kinds of unique team-ups.
"With these two ideas in mind, we concluded that creating a 4v4 team VS system would be the best way to not only create those over-the-top moments, but to further evolve the tag fighting genre."
Most stages also feature multiple areas, with transitions that play a "strategic role." Sony suggested fans check out the screenshots from Marvel’s New York City to see what you can find.
In case you missed it, here's everything announced at Sony's State of Play June 2025 showcase.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
