Marvel Tokon Player Numbers

A healthy competitive scene can transform a good fighting game into something special.

While not every fighter has to resonate with hardcore players in order to rack up sales — just look at the last couple of Mortal Kombat titles — games that manage to establish and cultivate a strong following of relatively serious players tend to be blessed with long commercial legs and impressive developer support.

Arc System Works has achieved this twice in pretty quick succession with Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive — and it's looking to make it a three-peat with Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.

The Sony-published brawler is out this week on PS5, and it's already racking up some very promising competitive player numbers.

The tag fighter's first official tournament will be held at CEO — one of world's largest and most prestigious fighting game events. It takes place between the 14th and 16th August in Orlando, Florida.

A total of 1,054 players have signed up for said tournament, placing Marvel Tokon second in terms of overall popularity. Only Street Fighter 6 has attracted more entrants, but not by much, hitting 1,111.

For more context, Tekken 8 is at 783 competitors, and the aforementioned Guilty Gear Strive is sitting at 523.

Again, this is a really good turnout for a title that hasn't even released yet. But of course, the real test is whether Marvel Tokon will be able to retain or grow this kind of genre-leading interest as time goes on.

Another important factor to consider is that new fighting games do tend to start off big, because their competitive scene is yet to be fully formed.

For many players, there's a better chance of making a name for themselves than if they decided to compete in a longstanding game of franchise.

Case in point: Avatar Legends, which launched just over a week ago, has racked up an impressive 706 entrants at CEO.

Still, the early signs are positive for Sony and Arc System Works; both companies will be hoping that this month's CEO tournament delivers in terms of hype.

Do you think they're onto a winner with Marvel Tokon? Call Doctor Doom in for an assist in the comments section below.

[source start.gg, via eurogamer.net]