There are few fighting games in 2026 quite as anticipated as Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the Arc System Works title set to feature iconic Marvel Comics characters in 4v4 tag-team brawls. Recently, this game was just given an up-to-date Steam page, which reveals new information about its contents along with general descriptions. Some details were expected, but others leave something to be desired, hinting at plans that could hinder the game as it releases.
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Most of the Steam page was revealed ahead of PlayStation’s State of Play event for February 2026, likely as a mistimed leak before the broadcast. Players have taken screenshots of the information listed, which detailed a variety of new and old facts about the upcoming 2026 fighting game alongside PC requirements and other small excerpts. While Episode Mode and 64-player lobbies are also featured on Steam leak, the roster size is the reveal fans are talking about the most.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Is Planned To Launch With Only 20 Main Roster Characters
Arguably the biggest detail to come from the Steam page leak was that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls would only have 20 characters at launch. According to the Steam information, players can “choose from an expanding roster of 20 iconic Marvel characters at launch, each rendered in a bold new anime-inspired art style.” The “expanding” part implies that more fighters will be added later on, but the release roster is far smaller than players may have expected.
To compare, Dragon Ball FighterZ, a 3v3 tag-team fighting game similar to Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, launched back in 2018 with 24 characters initially. While games like Street Fighter 5 only released with 16 characters in the past, titles with incredibly minimal rosters are often criticized by fans of the genre. In contrast, The King of Fighters 15 had 39 playable characters, all organized into three character teams. Over time, each of these games would get multiple DLC characters, growing to above 40 characters by the end of their life cycles.
While there is no doubt Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls will grow, the starting roster is strange despite its understandable premise. The 4v4 nature of this fighting game means that 20 characters equates to five full teams of fighters working together to enforce the title’s collaborative themes. However, this could have been achieved with 24 characters like Dragon Ball FighterZ, so it still seems lackluster compared to fighting games that have released over the past decade.
4v4 Matches Will Likely See Many Fighters Repeated Until More Are Added
If Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls was a 1v1 fighting game, the 20 character roster wouldn’t be nearly as bad, albeit slightly on the smaller end. However, the fact that players select four characters for their team every match means that you will inevitably see the same faces almost every time you play. With little knowledge on what characters will be on the roster at launch, it’s hard to tell how much patience players will have to seeing some faces again and again.
The “tired” feeling of facing the same characters multiple matches in a row might cause players to burn out of the honeymoon phase of this game faster than usual. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has a lot of variety in team synergies with specific assists, character positions in a group, and more, but that won’t be fresh forever as players dive deeper into game mechanics. Character variety being lessened has a chance to derail the game’s hype until more fighters are added in the future.
Other Fighting Games Keep Things Fresh With Larger Rosters Or Immediate DLC
Popular fighting games are always remaining well-liked with extra additions to their roster. For example, Street Fighter 6‘s Alex is making waves for being the most exciting DLC fighter in the game in a long time, honoring the character’s history in the series. Other games that aren’t even in the genre, such as Mario Tennis Fever, are launching with the biggest roster in the series’ history, showing just how much players like larger selections of characters.
One of the best examples of a fighting game with a large initial roster was Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, which made a point to bring back every playable character in the series’ history. This “Everyone is Here!” mentality did a lot for the game’s reputation, making sure that fan requests prior to the game’s launch were satisfied earlier, rather than having players beg for returning picks as DLC.
Marvel has an impossibly large character selection for any game, but Marvel Rivals has already shown the appeal of adding both popular and obscure picks to their roster. Although Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has a heavy challenge of adding the “best” Marvel characters to their game, having only 20 at launch could prove to limit their potential before the title even gets off the ground.
What do you think about the 20 character starting roster for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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