Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls Is the First PS6 Fighting Game — Here’s Why That Matters

PS6’s First Fighting Game Is a Marvel 4v4 – And It’s Gunning for a Decade of Updates

EVO 2025 wasn’t just about bracket resets and pop-offs-it also gave us the first fighting game to plant a flag in the PS6 era: Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. Producer Takeshi Yamanaka stepped on stage to say what a lot of publishers think but rarely promise out loud: “Over the next ten years, we intend to keep making this game the best experience ever.” That’s a big swing. The game is a 4v4 Marvel brawler, targeting PS5 and PC with a closed beta running September 5-7, 2025 exclusively on PlayStation. A full release hasn’t been pinned down, but the team says it should land before the next EVO, with 2026 floated as the window.

This caught my attention because the PS6 mention isn’t just platform chest-thumping. It’s a signal: the team wants this to be a long-tail live fighter that rides the next generation instead of restarting every few years. Fighters like Tekken 7 and Street Fighter V proved the model can work-if the foundation is rock solid. So, is Marvel Tōkon poised to pull it off, or is this another shiny service promise chasing MCU hype?

Key Takeaways

• First PS6 fighting game announced, with a live-service runway aimed at 10 years.
• 4v4 format could be fresh—or chaotic—depending on how tagging, assists, and readability are handled.
• Closed beta hits Sept 5-7, 2025 on PlayStation only; PC players will wait to test netcode.
• Release expected before EVO 2026 on PS5 and PC; PS6 support implied by the decade plan.

Breaking Down the Announcement

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is pitched as a team-based 4v4 fighter. That’s not your traditional Marvel vs. Capcom-style 3v3 tag setup; 4v4 suggests either larger squads with layered assists or simultaneous multi-character chaos. We don’t have system specifics yet, but the format instantly raises big questions: Is this tag-based with sequential swaps, or are we talking arena-style brawling with multiple characters on screen? How do they keep neutral, hit-confirming, and setplay readable when eight characters’ worth of VFX are exploding?

Yamanaka’s decade plan is the headline, but longevity only matters if the fundamentals are tight. That means day-one rollback netcode that doesn’t melt under load, snappy input latency, a proper training mode with frame data, and tournament-quality spectating and lobbies. We’ve seen what “fix it later” looks like in this genre—it drives players back to legacy mains. If Marvel Tōkon wants to be a PS6-era pillar, the base game has to be tournament-ready at launch.

The PS6 Angle: More Than Marketing

Being the first fighting game announced for PS6 is symbolic, but not meaningless. Sony has courted the FGC for years through EVO stewardship and feature co-marketing, and a next-gen fighter with a 10-year roadmap fits that playbook. For players, the PS6 implication should translate to longevity: your investment—time in the lab, DLC, cosmetics—won’t get stranded when the new box arrives. Just don’t confuse “first announced” with “first out” or “exclusive.” There’s no exclusivity claim for launch platforms beyond the PS5-only beta.

On tech, keep expectations grounded. Next-gen for fighters isn’t ray-traced capes; it’s rock-solid frame pacing, 60/120 fps options, instant loads, and world-class rollback. If Marvel Tōkon nails those on PS5 and scales effortlessly on PS6, great. If not, no amount of “future-proofing” PR will matter to ranked players grinding nightly sets.

4v4: Innovation or Information Overload?

Team fighters live and die by clarity. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 walked a fine line with assists, X-Factor, and full-screen particle storms. Push past that, and matches stop being about reads and starts being about which visual effect blinds you last. A successful 4v4 design probably needs:

• Strict assist cooldowns and clear role identities per character.
• Readable VFX and audio tells that prioritize hitboxes and invuln over fireworks.
• Smart camera and UI that track active targets, off-screen tags, and resource states without clutter.
• Rollback built for multi-entity states so desyncs don’t turn teams into slideshow theater.

Riot’s 2XKO is already pushing tag-team readability for 2025. If Marvel Tōkon tries to out-chaos it with eight-character scrambles, it needs discipline in the systems design. Marvel fans love spectacle, but competitive players need stability and depth that rewards lab time.

The Ten-Year Promise: What We Need to Hear Next

“Ten years” sounds great until licensing and monetization show up. With Marvel, roster is everything—and historically, character availability can be a legal maze. If this is the long haul, players will want a transparent cadence for character drops, a fair monetization model (battle pass cosmetics are fine; pay-to-win stat boosts aren’t), and an offline-complete package for when servers retire. Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Killer Instinct all built trust through consistent updates, robust training tools, and clear balance passes. That’s the bar.

One red flag: the beta is PlayStation-only in September 2025. That’s understandable from a marketing standpoint, but stress-testing rollback across PC hardware is essential. If PC is a launch platform, it deserves its own meaningful network test before release to avoid day-one netcode horror stories.

What Gamers Need to Know Now

• Closed beta runs Sept 5-7, 2025 on PlayStation. Registration is required.
• Launch is targeting before EVO 2026 on PS5 and PC. PS6 support is implied via the multi-year plan.
• Expect live-service structure with ongoing updates; wait for details on crossplay, monetization, and roster cadence.
• If you’re FGC, watch for training mode depth, spectator tools, and tournament features—those will determine if this sticks after the honeymoon.

TL;DR

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is the first fighting game staking a claim on PS6, aiming to be a decade-long live fighter with a bold 4v4 twist. The pitch is exciting, but the reality will hinge on rollback quality, system clarity, and fair monetization—especially with a Marvel-sized roster at stake. I’m cautiously hyped, but I want to see the beta deliver more lab time than lip service.