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Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Soul is reigniting the debate around DRM, amid reports a new DRM-free cracked version is performing better than Sony's widely lambasted official PC version.
When Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launched on PC earlier this month, it was heavily criticised for a range of significant performance problems, including stuttering framerates and network issues. While a patch was quickly released that improved the PC version for a substantial portion of the player base, performance woes persisted for others.
Given Marvel Tōkon's console release was largely free of problems, many speculated the presence of DRM in the Steam version was the cause of high CPU usage and other issues. And now, following the emergence of a cracked PC version, there's evidence to suggest the DRM may have been a culprit after all.
A variety of social media posts and reports have now surfaced from those who have played the cracked version, claiming it performs better than the official PC release. This video, posted by X user NockCS, shows both versions side by side to convey the difference in FPS.
Here's an actual side by side comparison.I promise you the clips are synced, the lag just slows down the game tremendously.If you look at the FPS highs, this is almost a 40fps difference. Whoever at Theia decided decrypting files on a single thread was a good idea is stupid https://t.co/Pse15blKQW pic.twitter.com/zPtMEU39wG— Nock (@NockCS) August 19, 2026
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Here's an actual side by side comparison.I promise you the clips are synced, the lag just slows down the game tremendously.If you look at the FPS highs, this is almost a 40fps difference. Whoever at Theia decided decrypting files on a single thread was a good idea is stupid https://t.co/Pse15blKQW pic.twitter.com/zPtMEU39wG
Raion, another user reporting performance issues with the official version, claims the cracked version was significantly less draining on their CPU, even when playing at the highest graphical settings. Alphine, another Marvel Tōkon player, posted a video showing the game seemingly running on low settings on a GTX1650 - hardware well below the minimum recommended specs listed on Steam. This is highly irregular, the minimum recommended specs on Steam tend to be a pretty firm bar for playability.
actual recording if you need proofmedal n obs are not good to my laptop i’m afraid https://t.co/hM5zTliyYy pic.twitter.com/mqdwCLMTwR— Alpine (@Alperen5841) August 19, 2026
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actual recording if you need proofmedal n obs are not good to my laptop i’m afraid https://t.co/hM5zTliyYy pic.twitter.com/mqdwCLMTwR
It's worth noting these are second-hand claims and should be taken with a grain of salt, though the number of these claims is itself noteworthy. And, of course, cracked games can be vehicles for malware and malicious code, so it is not advised to download one.
As for an official response to the claims, Eurogamer has contacted Sony but is yet to receive a reply at the time of writing. A recent social media post from the Marvel Tōkon account did promise further fixes to the PC version, but a quick glance at the responses show word of the crack has spread - and the comparisons in performance have left some fans disheartened.
Marvel Tōkon is a great game, but without more meaningful technical fixes from Sony and Arc Systems, a cloud hangs over the PC version's future. Matchmaking times on the platform have already taken a hit as people step away from the game while awaiting much-needed fixes. In addition, many console players have turned off matchmaking to avoid PC players - performance issues affect the experience for both players in online matches - exacerbating the issue. One look at the Steamdb page for Marvel Tōkon shows a steady drop since its launch earlier this ...Read more: Full article on www.eurogamer.net
What do you think about this?
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Soul is reigniting the debate around DRM, amid reports a new DRM-free cracked version is performing better than Sony's widely lambasted official PC version.
When Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launched on PC earlier this month, it was heavily criticised for a range of significant performance problems, including stuttering framerates and network issues. While a patch was quickly released that improved the PC version for a substantial portion of the player base, performance woes persisted for others.
Given Marvel Tōkon's console release was largely free of problems, many speculated the presence of DRM in the Steam version was the cause of high CPU usage and other issues. And now, following the emergence of a cracked PC version, there's evidence to suggest the DRM may have been a culprit after all.
A variety of social media posts and reports have now surfaced from those who have played the cracked version, claiming it performs better than the official PC release. This video, posted by X user NockCS, shows both versions side by side to convey the difference in FPS.
Here's an actual side by side comparison.I promise you the clips are synced, the lag just slows down the game tremendously.If you look at the FPS highs, this is almost a 40fps difference. Whoever at Theia decided decrypting files on a single thread was a good idea is stupid https://t.co/Pse15blKQW pic.twitter.com/zPtMEU39wG— Nock (@NockCS) August 19, 2026
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Here's an actual side by side comparison.I promise you the clips are synced, the lag just slows down the game tremendously.If you look at the FPS highs, this is almost a 40fps difference. Whoever at Theia decided decrypting files on a single thread was a good idea is stupid https://t.co/Pse15blKQW pic.twitter.com/zPtMEU39wG
Raion, another user reporting performance issues with the official version, claims the cracked version was significantly less draining on their CPU, even when playing at the highest graphical settings. Alphine, another Marvel Tōkon player, posted a video showing the game seemingly running on low settings on a GTX1650 - hardware well below the minimum recommended specs listed on Steam. This is highly irregular, the minimum recommended specs on Steam tend to be a pretty firm bar for playability.
actual recording if you need proofmedal n obs are not good to my laptop i’m afraid https://t.co/hM5zTliyYy pic.twitter.com/mqdwCLMTwR— Alpine (@Alperen5841) August 19, 2026
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actual recording if you need proofmedal n obs are not good to my laptop i’m afraid https://t.co/hM5zTliyYy pic.twitter.com/mqdwCLMTwR
It's worth noting these are second-hand claims and should be taken with a grain of salt, though the number of these claims is itself noteworthy. And, of course, cracked games can be vehicles for malware and malicious code, so it is not advised to download one.
As for an official response to the claims, Eurogamer has contacted Sony but is yet to receive a reply at the time of writing. A recent social media post from the Marvel Tōkon account did promise further fixes to the PC version, but a quick glance at the responses show word of the crack has spread - and the comparisons in performance have left some fans disheartened.
Marvel Tōkon is a great game, but without more meaningful technical fixes from Sony and Arc Systems, a cloud hangs over the PC version's future. Matchmaking times on the platform have already taken a hit as people step away from the game while awaiting much-needed fixes. In addition, many console players have turned off matchmaking to avoid PC players - performance issues affect the experience for both players in online matches - exacerbating the issue. One look at the Steamdb page for Marvel Tōkon shows a steady drop since its launch earlier this ...Read more: Full article on www.eurogamer.net
What do you think about this?