Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls wrapped its open beta with a landmark achievement: more concurrent players on Steam than any fighting game beta before it. The game pulled 33,233 players at its peak, edging past Street Fighter 6's 32,787 from 2023 and lapping Tekken 8's 15,035 that same year.
But the raw numbers tell only half the story. Two characters dominated the competition across all ranks: Magick and Blade, with Blade's popularity offering a window into something deeper than just game balance.
Data compiled by fighting game analyst AlietteFaye shows Magick led overall character usage in the highest ranks, but Blade proved nearly as magnetic. The Daywalker ranked second in general usage and pulled the biggest numbers as an assist character, a sign players wanted him on their team regardless of primary fighter choice. Spider-Man and Magneto rounded out the top tier, while Danger consistently struggled to find players.
The surge in Blade interest speaks to fan hunger that extends far beyond the fighting game arena. After seven years of development hell, Marvel President Kevin Feige recently acknowledged his frustration over the stalled Mahershala Ali Blade movie, calling himself a "gigantic loser and failure" for not getting the project across the finish line.
The gaming side of Blade's comeback looks equally uncertain. Arkane, the studio developing the Xbox title, faces an existential question as Microsoft's Xbox division considers strategic options that could include selling or shutting down the studio entirely. The restructuring, announced by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, hinges on consultation with the Works Council to review "potential strategic options."
For now, fans will have to settle for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, arriving August 6. Another superhero game, Marvel's Wolverine, launches September 15 on PlayStation 5, giving the gaming side of Marvel's portfolio a shot of momentum even as the Blade projects remain in limbo.
Author Emily Chen: "The Blade fever dream never dies in gaming, and this beta just proved why studios keep trying to resurrect it."
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