Cracked Version of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls Reportedly Runs Better Than Sony's Official PC Release

A pirated, DRM-free version of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is reportedly running more smoothly on PC than Sony's own release — the latest twist in a launch troubled by performance problems that have driven players away.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launched on PC earlier in August 2026 and drew heavy criticism for stuttering framerates and network issues. A post-launch patch improved things for many players, but others were left waiting for further fixes. The console versions, by contrast, were largely free of such problems. The game's official social media account has promised additional PC fixes are on the way.

At the centre of the controversy is DRM — digital rights management, the anti-piracy software publishers layer onto games to prevent unauthorised copying. Many players speculated that the DRM in the Steam version of Marvel Tōkon was causing high CPU usage and other performance issues. Players bypassed that DRM within 11 days of the PC launch, according to the site CrackWatch, as reported by Polygon.

Once the DRM was stripped out, the difference was stark. Social media posts and player reports describe the cracked version running at a flawless 60 frames per second, with the game's DRM and anti-cheat software blamed for crippling performance on the official release. X user NockCS posted a side-by-side video comparing the cracked and official versions' framerates. Another user, Raion, reported that the cracked version was significantly less draining on their CPU — even at the highest graphical settings. A user named Alphine posted footage of the cracked game running on a GTX 1650, a graphics card below the minimum specs listed on Steam.

The cracked version has a clear limitation: it does not support online matchmaking. Players wanting to fight others must use peer-to-peer connections through third-party programs like Parsec. That means the official release remains the only path to the game's built-in online play.

The performance gap has had real consequences for the player base. Console players began turning off cross-platform matchmaking to avoid PC opponents, since performance issues could affect both players in an online match. On PC, matchmaking times grew longer as players stepped away while awaiting fixes. According to SteamDB data cited by Eurogamer, Marvel Tōkon's concurrent player count peaked at 24,498 at launch and has since dropped to a 24-hour peak of 5,249.

Sony has not responded to requests for comment. Eurogamer contacted the publisher about the DRM-related performance claims but had received no reply at the time of writing.

For a fighting game, where frame-perfect timing can decide a match, the difference between a smooth 60 FPS and a stuttering one is not cosmetic. Players paying for the official version expect it to run at least as well as the one distributed for free. Whether Sony addresses the DRM specifically — or continues patching around the symptoms — will likely determine whether those who left decide to come back.