Pirated Marvel Tōkon Versions Allegedly Perform Better on PC

The PC version of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has faced a barrage of criticism lately due to its poor performance, with many speculating that its extensive anti-cheat measures might be the culprit.

Recent developments seem to support this theory, as a cracked version of the game has surfaced online, and users are reporting that it runs significantly better than the official release.

User JustinSGX shared on X that the cracked version, which appeared last night, only utilized about 34 percent of their i7 6700K’s processing power, while the retail version consumed over 57 percent of the CPU.

JustinSGX suggested that the performance difference could be linked to the absence of anti-cheat software in the cracked version. They explained that the retail version is encrypted and decrypts the game in real time in 64kb chunks on a single CPU core.

Now, while I can’t verify these claims myself, they seem plausible, as several users on X, including notable figures in the fighting game community, have echoed these observations.

“Looked into this a little in x64debug and ngl if you see how much memory is used on purely anti-cheat you’ll get mad,” noted ArcSys content creator ShaudL.

“It literally runs 10x better now, even on highest settings, I am barely using 45% of my CPU,” commented user MattWilliamson9.

“A certain unofficial version is actually running flawless 60fps on my rig,” shared bar_barXII. “Medium settings rock solid 60fps with CPU and GPU at around 40-50% usage… meanwhile retail is stuck at perma 45fps even with GBA resolution.”

Although ArcSys released a patch last week that improved performance on my end, I can’t help but wonder if the five instances of Sony’s SDK runtime launching every time I start the game contribute to the sluggish performance reports.

Despite all the DRM and anti-cheat layers in place, tech-savvy players have managed to datamine upcoming DLC characters for Marvel Tōkon. Clearly, these measures haven’t been effective in preventing the game from being cracked, as it took less than two weeks for a pirated version to emerge online.