Marvel Tokon - First Impressions and Thoughts

Marvel Tokon is dope. In fact, the game is so good and popular, I think it's gonna get a lot of love from fans, so today, I'm gonna share my first impressions and thoughts about what do I think of Marvel Tokon so far.

First off, if you have been living under a rock, Marvel Tokon has recieved a Metacritic score of 85 out of 100, indicating that this game has been killing it by having higher scores than other tag fighters. A while back, I made a post that claimed that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls became the new heart of the FGC. And it will be since the game is making its first appearance at Evo France 2026.

Marvel Tokon has done something that is brilliant, like become a 4v4 tag fighter. But I want to iterate something for fighting games. 2026 became a year when fighting games had a rocky launch. 2XKO flopped at launch, there are Switch performance issues in Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, Marvel Tokon had issues for the PC version and SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level, though it's a fan made tag fighter, launched with bugs like Sakura Shinguji not flinching when taking damage.

Danger_Bot over on the official Marvel Tokon Discord announced that a patch is coming on Friday, which is today, to include fixes to performance issues on PC and provide PC and PS5 stability improvements.

And there are reactions to the post that are overwhelmingly positive because the patch they pushed in had alleviated performance issues that became the continuous point of contention. It also have emojis of Marvel Tokon characters. The one with the most reactions is Black Panther. Both Black Panther and Magik came nip and tuck to each other.

Today's patch came out and it remedies the issues in the PC version and brings in stability improvements for both versions, including fixes for several crashes.

All of the reactions are positive, praising devs fixing the frame drop issues on PC. This post has the Wolverine emoji having the most reactions so far to honor his Battle Reborn Suit being available to all players for free and his new game by Insomniac coming out soon. It's a good thing I didn't play it online until the patch comes out to fix the issues.

So, when you assign your team on Battle Settings, the main menu screen displays the four characters on your team and the trim color varies by character you make as leader. That is the coolest thing about this. What you're seeing now has parts of the main menu screen colored blue because Magik is the leader of my team. Now, I will be the first to say, I am not a pro with Magik as I typically am with Annie in Skullgirls or Akali in 2XKO and will be with Atom Eve in Invincible VS when it comes to playstyles. But regardless, I had fun with her. In fact, it's something that Kayle would've been in 2XKO if development kept going.

And what is even cooler is that it generates a front cover of your four-person team when you lock it in on the character select screen. It has the Marvel logo with the player number below it, a barcode on the lower left hand corner and the name of your team. I did find me a team already.

So, what is the team I am using? Well, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Hellbound Shapeshifters, featuring Magik, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord and Green Goblin. But there is one small caveat to this. I am still working on learning Green Goblin's combos since he rides on his glider in his Skill attack to contribute to his C-tier ease of use, indicating that I am not getting out of my comfort zone when playing this game. I did a livestream showcasing my team to use online. To make myself clear, the livestream dropped before today's patch came out. That's why framedrops were captured on stream.

I can't help but wonder what this team makes me think of. I can't quite put my finger on it. Oh yeah, it sounds a lot like the Adventures of Flynt Buckler. You know, the fictional storybook in Escape From Ever After entailed Flynt's mission to defeat Tinder the Dragon became a backfire and new characters join in? It exactly sounds like that.

See, Marvel Tokon is in a much healthier position and state now, thanks to the patch that mitigates performance issues, but unfortunately, with prepositions to being a 4v4 tag fighter, both teams share with one health bar. When you used the "It's Mahvel, Baybee!" term when Marvel Tokon was announced, it served as a spiritual successor to the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise. Marvel vs. Capcom has been a long line of tag fighting games for almost three decades, with games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 being a masterclass in tag fighting. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, however, sold poorly to not have a second season. Well, Marvel Tokon is a spiritual successor to Marvel vs. Capcom, but it's not Marvel vs. Capcom.

But to the general public, there's nothing that can come close to Marvel vs. Capcom 2, until one game that did. And that's Marvel Tokon. Marvel Tokon proved that you can make a new Marvel fighter to be a masterclass to the general public. Again, Tokon is the masterclass of a Marvel fighter to be met with overwhelming positivity. This shows that Marvel has been a product for decades with web-slinging, slicing with claws, causing destruction and so on. The success of Dragon Ball FighterZ allowed Marvel Tokon to come to fruition as the masterclass of a tag fighter because they have rich innovation, right tools and resources and a smaller team. Speaking of, I seem to realize something.

Remember what happened weeks after 2XKO came out on console? Half of the team was laid off due to its flop at launch. The cause of this is that 2XKO has started development when the team was large. They knew that larger teams have no idea what they are doing while smaller teams have the tendency to make games properly without the distractions.

Here's the thing. Marvel Tokon was developed by Arc System Works, a small studio that Sony doesn't own. They only helped publish it. Now, imagine if a smaller team started developing 2XKO. Upon launch, the game would have an overkill player retention and momentum would reach the level needed for long-term sustainability. This is something that is basically intended to explain how Overwatch became a commercial success in the first place.

Marvel Tokon isn't the only tag fighter that was developed from the start by a small team. Invincible VS and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level were developed from the start by small teams of Quarter Up and 4CYDE Studios. 2026 now has a trifecta of tag fighters that were developed from the start by small teams that have the tendency to take creative risks and drive a high-to-overkill player retention at launch. However, they have made a rocky launch like 2XKO did. I hope to see both games do well.

And I just witnessed a bit of a snag. Skybound Games has laid off 20+ employees from Quarter Up in June. That was very unfortunate. The 2XKO team was the first to conduct layoffs weeks after console launch. Fortunately, Invincible VS is going to continue support, reassuring plans for both Season 2 and Season 3 since laying off over 20 employees from Quarter Up wasn't as bad as the part where Riot laid off half of the 2XKO team, citing momentum did not reach the level needed for sustainability. 4CYDE Studios, however, remained intact since SEGA vs. Capcom is thankfully a fan-made tag fighting game and developers of a fan-made game don't conduct layoffs at all.

Since Marvel Tokon is going to have a ten-year development cycle, that's a W for us and we're gonna see a lot more characters and new content. Now, if there is one thing I want in Marvel Tokon, I would say an online co-op game mode. An online co-op game mode in Marvel Tokon sounds like a great idea to me. It allows four players on the same team to battle against four players, like how KOF and Dragon Ball FighterZ handled having an online co-op game mode to have three players against three players and how 2XKO handled Duo Play where two players work as a duo. Think about it, I can team up with three of my friends and take on four of our opponents. That would be straight up crazy, don't you think?

In conclusion and summary, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is dope. I loved the comic book stylization and the designs that have a blend of American comics and Japanese manga for characters. I am loving every second of it. These are my first impressions and thoughts regarding Marvel Tokon. Evo France is around the corner and that's where Marvel Tokon will have its first appearance at. And now that the patch came out to fix issues, the real fun starts and I can take it online.

Why Did 2XKO Flop at Launch?

A lot of people became disappointed that 2XKO is ceasing active development in December due to a low retention. So what happened? Why did 2XKO flop at launch? Let's jump right in.

Before we can actually answer why 2XKO flopped at launch and cite the factors that contributed to its low player retention at launch, we need to go back to the beginning of the game's development.

2XKO started out with six characters in Alpha Lab 1. It became a starting point for the game's development. After Alpha Lab 1 concluded, feedback went all over the place and the devs evaluated their feedback for the next playtest, Alpha Lab 2. It introduced a cast of seven characters, with Jinx as the newest addition. It was a disappointingly smaller playtest as Riot was working on an infrastructure. If we go straight to Early Access, it was criticized for having a small character roster when other tag fighters have a large roster of characters.

So now, we can answer this question. Why did 2XKO flop at launch? There is one thing we need to get out of the way. The game was criticized for having a small roster, especially when choosing two of them. You can't have a tag fighter, in this case, 2XKO, with a small character roster. It's has been the point of criticism for small rosters on a tag fighter, so whoever did this, pays the price.

The small free pool of six characters made it harder for new players to try out the game. That's another subject of 2XKO's low player retention along with having a small character roster at launch. 2XKO launching with eleven characters and a free pool of the first six characters contributed to its flop. This brings me to monologue how development of 2XKO should've unfolded before launch.

February 2025 - 7th and 8th character reveals
March 2025 - 9th and 10th character reveals + Alpha Lab 2
April 2025 - 11th and 12th character reveals

May 2025 - 13th and 14th character reveals

June 2025 - 15th and 16th character reveals
July 2025 - 17th and 18th character reveals

August 2025 - 19th and 20th character reveals
September 2025 - 21st and 22nd character reveals + Closed Beta

October 2025 - 23rd and 24th character reveals + Early Access

Again, a small roster of characters and a small free pool of the first six characters are the two things that made it harder for new players to approach. Other tag fighters I know have a large character roster at launch. Invincible VS launched with 18 characters, Hunter X Hunter: NEN Impact launched with 16 characters, Marvel Tokon launched with 20 characters, and 2XKO should've launched with 24 characters and they all should've been free by default because a small roster at launch with the first six characters being free by default is the factor that made it harder for new players, contributing to its low player retention.

In reality, we're having 17 characters this year and will remain that way. The suggestion to how it should've been during development has seven characters. It makes it a total 24 characters. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has 24 characters if you're excluding the two juggernaut characters, PTX-40A and G. Lightan. With 24 characters free at launch and post-launch characters to be unlocked with Credits, KO Points and through Recruitment Events, 2XKO would have a high to overkill player retention so that it would recieve content for years to come and the team would remain intact.

I am going to list the seven characters that should've been revealed before 2XKO launched.

1. Katarina

Right off the bat, I'm going to talk about the only character that was cut from the earlier stages of development, Katarina. Our red-haired Noxian was cut from the earlier stages due to starting the development over. She was developed well until Riot went back to the drawing board. Arucelli did her a concept art and submitted it for her redesign stage. However, our red-haired Noxian will never see the light of day now that the game is ceasing active development.

2. Kennen

Kennen is located at background of Bandlewood Crossing, indicating that Riot has deconfirmed none of the characters. He would've been confirmed up front and could be a Sonic-like in 2XKO, but he will never make it to the roster because active development on 2XKO will cease.

3. Ashe

A while back, I mentioned that 2XKO never had a bow and arrow character. In this case, Ashe can be the one that the game would've answered with. She could swing her bow and fire arrows with S1 like how Caitlyn swings her rifle and fired it with S1. I would love to see the Frost Archer, but my hopes have been kaput because the game is ceasing active development and it's not a good thing.

4. Leona

2XKO never had a Targonian character and Leona would've been the first Targonian to ever come to the game if Riot revealed two characters per month up until Early Access where it should've had 24 characters instead of 11. I do love to see the Radiant Dawn, but she won't see the light of day. Heh, light. You get it because Leona has the power of light in her sword.

5. Garen

So, Lux is on her way to 2XKO and I said that her brother is likely to debut as his sister did. However, we are getting Lux, but her brother will never make it as the game is going to cease active development. I just want to experience the brother and sister duo too...

6. Miss Fortune

When the game had its Alpha Lab 1, the Brazen Hydra is one of the stages in Bilgewater. And if you look at the background on the far right, there are wanted posters for Gangplank and Tahm Kench. Miss Fortune should've been in the game in the first place because of the tavern in Bilgewater having wanted posters. Not including her in the first place along with others would contribute to the game's small roster and the misdirection Riot has taken. Our red-haired pirate will never make it.

7. Sett

Sett has been the most popular request and that's something I have heard when watching 2XKO Pools. He, in fact, would've been the desired fourth Ionian character if development of 2XKO keeps going. I was gonna choose Lee Sin, but Sett is the highly requested.

Character roster that should've been:

Ahri
Akali

Ashe
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Garen
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina

Kennen
Leona
Lux
Miss Fortune
Samira
Senna
Sett
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

As I have said before, the 24 character roster is good for a tag fighter and this is how it should've been in Early Access if Riot revealed two characters before Alpha Lab 2 and two characters every month up until Early Access, so I have decided to divide the 24-character roster into the SEGA and Capcom sides that should've been across the board and state the key points. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri, Jinx and Samira remain. Ashe, Garen, Kennen and Sett get added. Braum, Darius, Lux. Thresh and Warwick move. The SEGA side would've had Ahri, Ashe, Braum, Darius, Garen, Jinx, Kennen, Lux, Samira, Sett, Thresh and Warwick.

Akali, Illaoi and Senna remain. Katarina, Leona and Miss Fortune get added. Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo move. That would've put Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Illaoi, Katarina, Leona, Miss Fortune, Senna, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Garen
Jinx
Kennen
Lux
Samira
Sett
Thresh
Warwick

Capcom side:

Akali
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Illaoi
Katarina
Leona
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles

Garen on the SEGA side = Shining the Holy Ark
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Kennen on the SEGA side = Sonic the Hedgehog
Lux on the SEGA side = Space Channel 5
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Sett on the SEGA side = Streets of Rage
Thresh on the SEGA side = Mansion of Hidden Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast

Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Senna on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Yasuo on the Capcom side = Onimusha

We now have the standings for the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points to them that should've happened in the first place if Riot revealed two characters before Alpha Lab 2 and every month up until Early Access because again, a small roster on a tag fighter contributed to its low player retention at launch. Then something hit me.

The roster went heavy on Arcane characters, with Lux being the sixth one. That was in 2021 when Ekko was introduced. Jinx was introduced in Alpha Lab 2. Vi was introduced in Closed Beta. Warwick was introduced in Early Access. Caitlyn was introduced in Season 1. And finally, Lux will be introduced in September's patch. It is kind of weird that 2XKO would be influenced by Arcane because of the graffiti in the lobbies. But listen, I don't want to put a slant on Arcane. I liked Arcane. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight scenes in it and the part where Caitlyn and Vi had sex with each other, contributing to wanting Caitlyn in 2XKO because of Vi.

Expectations:

• Two character reveals per month after Alpha Lab 2 starting in April up until Early Access
• 22 characters and 14 stages during Closed Beta
• 24 characters and 16 stages during Early Access
• All characters and stages in Early Access free by default
• Heavy reliability on League of Legends characters
• Cross-region support
• Arcane Bundle costs $50
• Materializing Katarina
• Custom lobbies
• All above points contribute to a high to overkill retention to continue active development for years to come

Mistakes:

• 8th character reveal in June
• 9 characters and five stages during Closed Beta
• 11 characters and seven stages during Early Access
• First six characters and first four stages free by default
• Heavy reliability on Arcane characters
• Region-locked
• Arcane Bundle costs $100
• Scrapping Katarina
• Private lobbies
• All above points contribute to a low retention to shrink the team and cease active development

If Riot hadn't made any mistakes and met up with the expectations I have listed above during development, 2XKO wouldn't flop at launch. And even if player retention is low enough to not cover rising costs, they could rely on the community like how Blizzard did with Overwatch.

And that is my story about how 2XKO's development should've been and how did it have a low player retention at launch with factors that I have pinpointed. While it is a darn shame that 2XKO is ceasing active development, it's not as bad as the part where WB Games has had a small chip on their shoulder on what happened to MultiVersus as Riot is giving me a refund. What happened to MultiVersus, you ask? It's all of it is what happened. Whether it's predatory microtransactions, the misdirection they were going with the game and abysmal marketing at launch.

But Coach TJ Puma has started a #Save2XKO petition to rally talent and support. Maybe a new 2XKO team can pick up where the old team left off and learn from their mistakes the old team has made like the ones I listed above, who knows?

2XKO is Ceasing Active Development...

So, Season 3 and Lux are fast approaching and we have been waiting for news about them since the Coven Bundle came out. An announcement popped up and unfortunately, it is not looking good. Let's jump right in...

I'm back with a brand new post that has some bad and heartbreaking news. So, with fighting games rolling around like tumbleweeds in the wind this year, the fighting game community has been thriving, especially recently with the release of Marvel Tokon, Invincible VS, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game and SEGA vs. Capcom. But specifically, I like to point out to the direction of the tag fighter on this post, the League of Legends tag fighter, 2XKO.

So, this game has came out of Early Access and launched on console in January, being met with positive buzz for innovative tag mechanics and co-op gameplay. However, as soon as the game launched on console, things took a turn for the game. Half of the 2XKO team was laid off. Momentum has not reached the level need for long-term devlopment despite the buzz.

As we're approaching the time when Season 3 comes out, We were desperately waiting for Season 3 info to drop along with Lux's launch. Riot Games has posted a message on X, hoping it's Season 3 news and... can you guess what they announced? They announced that 2XKO is going to cease active development with the intention of leaving the servers online for the foreseeable future and refunding those who made purchases on the Starter Pack and KO Points before August 20th.

Wow. I don't know what to say about this matter. I just don't... Look, instead of ranting, I gotta remain calm in a Buena Vista mood about this while candidly sharing how disappointed I am after seeing this devastating and bitter news that just hit me.

Alpha Lab 1 came out on PC and console and during the course, feedback went all over the place. Then Alpha Lab 2 became a disapointingly short playtest as Riot was working on the infrastructure to get the game prepared for Closed Beta as the first step of rolling out the game to everyone with giving those who playtested a guaranteed access to the game. Then Early Access launched exclusively on PC and a lot of players were itching to play the game on console and TOs were eager to set up the PS5 versions on offline tournaments. The console sneak peek video has made 9.8 million views on YouTube. This should've reflected as player engagement.

And do you know what happened? Weeks after console launch, half of the 2XKO team was laid off, believing that momentum has not reached the level needed for sustainability. Then they were going to remain committed to developing 2XKO and gave us a sneak peak at Akali and Senna. Six months later, active development on 2XKO is going to end due to low player retention. When I said that if a game, like, I don't know, Crash Team Rumble could cease active development, then anything was possible, I didn't mean 2XKO.

The thing is, Riot looks at the League of Legends characters and said, "Hey, we should bring more League of Legends characters to 2XKO." And do you know what happened after the console sneak peek? They turned around and confirmed yet another Arcane character that was Caitlyn Kiramman. Look, I don't want to put a slant on Arcane or Caitlyn. I liked Arcane. Caitlyn is the character I wanted because of Vi and the fact that I wanted to find out how she would perform in 2XKO. But confirming another Arcane character is how that happened.

I can't believe Riot sat there and confirmed Caitlyn over Leona, Lulu, Gangplank, Miss Fortune, Garen, Katarina, Sona, Vayne, Graves or a treasure trove of legendary characters and they decided to do that with the Sheriff of Piltover? Again, no slant to Arcane. If you hadn't watched it, you should. Then eight months later, Riot's just like, "Well, we tried, so we have no choice to cease active development and go back to the drawing board." I seriously don't understand why that Caitlyn, of all characters, had to be confirmed.

Other than Vi and Jinx in their Arcane model, this comes after the announcement of bringing League of Legends characters to Fortnite to be used as skins, starting with Ahri. There are literally just a lot of characters just begging to be in the roster. But that will never happen since that level of retention couldn't cover rising costs that doing another year would cost Riot at the rate of retention, so they have no choice but to cease active development as a responsible choice, meaning that there will be no more new characters or stages.

Skullgirls had a low player retention, but the game had continued active development regardless because a publisher like Autumn Games is the holder of the Skullgirls IP, not developers that Autumn worked with and they literally made that happen in the first place. The same went for Rivals of Aether 2. I never played Rivals of Aether 2, but we're getting more characters in that game because Aether Studios is the publisher that owned all rights to the game. They announced two new characters before Top 8 at Evo.

I made a post on X sharing my feelings about how disappointed I am about 2XKO ceasing active development due to low player engagement. Even Diaphone is quitting his job to play this game in light of this news and I don't even blame him.

Final SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Final Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Final key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Gain Ground
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Star Gladiator
Senna on the Capcom side = Devil May Cry
Thresh on the Capcom side = Ghosts n' Goblins
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers

Here are the final standings for the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points. All of this have been finalized as 2XKO is going to cease active development in December because of the fact that the game couldn't have a sufficient player engagement. It has been a Maggie and the Ferocious Beast mess of things that weren't even half-baked because 2XKO not having a sufficient player engagement contributes to sunsetting active development despite early buzz. For that, I am deleting the post that talks about the wanted future characters and editing out mentions about it on certain posts.

My condolences and I'm sorry to the team that struggled to maintain player engagement of this game they pour their hearts and souls into and to Diaphone quitting his job. It sucks to end like this. I wish them the best of luck finding ways to come back stronger for their next game. I have a follow up post that have the factors that cite 2XKO's flop at launch.

I got to keep my act together. I still have a little fire of hope. I have three reasons to keep my act together. One of them is actually Marvel Tokon. I played the Open Beta before and I am genuinely impressed by the quality that I already found a team for when I get the full game. Since the game is having a ten-year development cycle, I'll be looking forward to seeing more characters.

The second reason is a new leadership. One user has created a #Save2XKO petition to rally support and talent. Since 2XKO is ceasing active development, maybe a new team can pick up where the old team left off to continue active development under the new and dedicated team, who knows?

The third reason is SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. In the first livestream, Madxruler and FaRe'N'HiTe have straight up confirmed a bevy or a treasure trove of characters, and it's working; NiGHTS, Honey, Zero, Ristar, Ulala, Shadow the Hedgehog, Falcon and even B.D. Joe have been confirmed. This is defientely something that Riot Games should've done when developing 2XKO prior to release.

The point is, *sigh* there are literally a lot of characters just begging to be in 2XKO so badly. However, it's gonna stay that way after hearing this bitter news.

Joe's Monologues - 8/16/26

I'm back with a brand new Joe's Monologues that I felt passionate about doing. We are in the second half of 2026 and approaching autumn, the time when everything cools down and the forests change their color of the leaves to yellow and orange and they fall down to the ground on the way to winter. Let's get into the post.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Let's kick it off with talking about something I did not do during my main playthrough on Bug Fables. On stream, I had to do something that I haven't done on my main playthrough in the first place. That is befriending Chompy. It is an optional companion not part of the main story, but it's a side quest. On stream, I have befriended Chompy and got the Tardigrade Shield. These are the two things I have not covered in my main playthrough. If I have befriended Chompy and acquired the Tardigrade Shield in the first place, then maybe I wouldn't have any problem beating the Everlasting King.

I am on the verge of uploading the rest of my Bug Fables Let's Play and I am closer to uploading every one of them. I also have planned to record and upload shorts in regards to this game on my gaming channel where gameplay shorts are being uploaded on it. I have uploaded one so far, but there are a lot more I have planned. Also, I'm about to upload a video that you'll never believe... 

As a reward for beating the game a while back, I have submitted my logo request for this game to Broken Saw. Guess what? My request has been fulfilled. Let's take a look at the video covering the logos.

SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level:

4CYDE Studios has released their fangame and I am amazed by all of their work they have done. But it was a terrible release because there are a few bugs like the one bug where Sakura Shinguji would not flinch when taking damage, and summon her mech like crazy. I have captured all of that and uploaded a short covering that on my gaming channel. Upon upload, it went viral despite not having my mic on. Thankfully, the bug has been fixed as they pushed out a hotfix before working on the next update that is certainly to have two new characters as you're seeing the slots with a question mark on it on the character select screen to indicate that they are coming soon.

Since Beat temporarily replaces Akira Yuki, it's likely that he's gonna return to the game in the next major update. The one on the Capcom side is unknown. It is only a matter of time before Season 1 gets into its post-Alpha glory. That's the Alpha phase they were referring to.

As you beat Arcade Mode, "To Be Continued..." appears. But what does it apply to? What does that exactly mean? Well, the game currently has 10 characters and will have more characters to come during the course of Season 1.

Here are the voice actors that voiced the respective characters. On the list, there are 12 of them. But something's not right. If we look at the bottom of the SEGA side of the cast, we can see that Sapphire is being credited for voicing Honey from Fighting Vipers, yet she is not even in the game yet. Why is it on there?

Well, a while back, 4CYDE Studios was looking for a voice actress to voice Honey for the main menu screen. Sapphire applied to be Honey's voice actress for the main menu screen. That's why it's on there. Ladies and gentlemen, we might be experiencing an indication that Honey from Fighting Vipers is confirmed to also be a playable character, which has me very excited for this.

Update Regarding Sony Ending Discs:

After Sony made and update that they are going to stop producing PlayStation discs for games that release in 2028 and onwards, it was met with record backlash, with the Change.org petition having over 500,000 signatures, the planned blackout boycott and multiple lawsuits. Then they posted after six days with the fighting stick, ignoring backlash like they are going to forget about the backlash-worthy announcement they made. The lawsuit against Sony is going strong. Even Stop Killing Games is joining the rebellion against Sony's all-digital future. However, the CFO said that there is a majority of digital purchases in Q1 of this and their decision is final.

However, a former Square Enix executive named Jacob Navok said that PlayStation culling discs is gonna make the PlayStation Store cheaper. Wait, what? I actually agree with this, but what's the point of people getting angry at Sony's decision to kill discs if it's gonna make the digital store cheaper?

What am I Going to Do Next:

What am I doing next? Well, there's an indie game that I am planning a Let's Play series on, which I can't reveal yet. There's a post that contains wanted posters for future 2XKO characters in the works and it's what I'll probably post next. There's also a post in the works that I want get something off my chest. I tied up most loose ends for the 2XKO livestream to couple with the Sonic Racing CrossWorlds livestream and put $30 on hold for when I get paid next month to buy Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls on Steam and have my initial team of Magik, Star-Lord, Ms. Marvel and Green Goblin in the full game. The regular story is that I made Magik as leader of the team and the truth lies a little more than that. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Conclusion:

Well, this one has a lot to go through. Before I end this post, I am going to share what am I gonna do when Sony culls discs for games releasing in 2028. After hearing from the former Square Enix executive stated that Sony ending discs in 2028 is gonna make digital purchases affordable, I am coming to a decision. I am remaining as a PlayStation fan. But on one condition. Sony must follow Xbox's footsteps by having a disc-to-digital feature. It's the only way to win back players.

4CYDE Studios' NEW Game in the Works

As SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch is tomorrow, today, 4CYDE Studios has launched a website. We know that they have SEGA vs. Capcom in there, but they also have another project in the works. Let's jump right in.

Today, we're gonna talk about the official 4CYDE Studios website. That's right. 4CYDE Studios.

Here is the official header for the official 4CYDE Studios website with the "We create 4 U" slogan and the metal thing that moves with your cursor.

If you look closer, it shows that there are two games deployed and a number of players that refer to those who signed up so far. But how there are two games in there?

Here are the two games deployed so far. They are SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level and the untitled new game that is in the works.

Let's take a look at the mystery game's hub.

The picture that has the PS4 controller has the words "Coming Soon," indicating the untitled game is not yet revealed.

An untitled new game has some firm information. It is hinted as a fighting game to use the Ikemen GO engine and comes out in 2028 for PC and Mac.

It turns out that the untitled new game will also be Linux and Steam. SEGA vs. Capcom is also coming to the next two platforms.

Ladies and gentlemen, we might be looking at a potential new fighing game being in the works and I am very excited. I have to make this post because they have a new fighting game. SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch is tomorrow, so get ready for the next level, everyone. To download SEGA vs. Capcom and the untitled game and have access to them and their new patch releases, you can do so via the official 4CYDE Studios website and you will need to have a gamer account. Here's the link below.

https://4cydestudios.com/

Midway Was Great to the Gaming Industry

It has occured to me that Midway Games, the defunct Chicago video game company, was behind the iconic franchises. Then the majority of their assets were swept away by Warner Bros., including Mortal Kombat. They were great to the gaming industry for years prior to the date when they went defunct. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a backstory post. So, Midway Games was an American game company in Chicago. However, they weren't always known for producing video games. As Midway Manufacturing in 1958, they were an independent manufacturer of amusement equipment founded by two people, Henry Ross and Marcine Wolverton. They started out as a developer of arcade games and made an alliance with Taito and Namco for distribution. When Bally came along to consolidate with Midway Manufacturing after buying them, Midway Manufacturing was renamed to Bally Midway to produce pinball machines.

Pinball machines were loved by many fans whose forte was amusement. That's where Williams Electronics came in to purchase Bally Midway. So far, pinball has been a most popular amusement back in the old days when arcade games were first invented and as kids, we insert coins into machines. Midway has produced arcade games by Williams and Atari, such as Robotron: 2084, Smash TV, Joust, Defender, Gauntlet and the Rush series. The games in particular became well-liked by many. Williams decided to offer its video game rights to Midway and was given the pinball rights in return. This caused Midway to stop using the Bally Midway label and live a life on their own.

As time went on, Midway knew that they can no longer bear the influence of WMS and Bally since they were working independently. It became a lucid dream for the company to become full-fledged. As a full-fledged company, Midway has teamed up with Acclaim Entertainment, who earned the home console rights to arcade titles by Williams and Midway, but led to a refusal clause. One person went on to say that they were working on arcade games with Williams and Atari. Midway wouldn't agree to Acclaim's decision because of the refusal clause in any of their arcade games. There it was that Acclaim decided to port the first Mortal Kombat to home consoles.

However, the move sparked controversy that it lead to 1992-1993 senate hearings on violent video games held by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl and the establishment of the ESRB. It has been a bone of contention surrounding video game violence since the backlash about porting the first Mortal Kombat to home consoles, so whoever did this, paid the price. Acclaim did not own Mortal Kombat. They helped Midway publish it to home consoles. That was before Midway renamed themselves to Midway Manufacturing to Midway Games, Inc. and Williams subsequently spun off the rest of the interest in Midway to its shareholders to make Midway the independent company for the first time in almost 30 years. Midway now has the power to work independently from Williams to have a focus on home video games.

During Midway's focus on home video games, they became a full-fledged video game company to produce games released on consoles that have 3D graphics. In the case of arcade sports games, Midway was responsible of NFL Blitz, NBA Ballers, MLB Slugfest and NHL Hitz under the Midway Sports name. This is where you might argue and say that NFL Blitz was released on the 5th generation consoles, so what am I talking about? While it is true, the first NFL Blitz was released on the 5th generation consoles. And when we get to the next era of gaming, MLB Slugfest, NHL Hitz, RedCard and NBA Ballers came in to join Blitz.

And as we get to the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, Midway has taken NFL Blitz to the next level with Blitz: The League, which my brother and I played together on the PS3. I pretty much loved it. Unlike its predecessors, the game was rated M due to graphic violence, drug use and explicit use of profanity. None of them are suitable for children under 17. That contributed to its ban in Australia because of drugs depicted as incentives. These factors show that this is definetely NOT a nice game for children because of explicit swearing and graphic violence in it.

Midway also had compilations of their arcade games with the entry of Midway Arcade Treasures for the 6th generation consoles because that's what they thought they did with Williams and Bally. While Mortal Kombat is nuanced, the golden age of the series is from the first Mortal Kombat to the fourth game that introduced a 3D space. This allowed Midway to have a trilogy of games that take place in the 3D space released on the PS2, GameCube and Xbox and introduced switching between three fighting styles and earning color-coded coins. But Midway could not understand that.

In 2006 and 2007, Midway lost a further $77 million and $100 million on sales of $166 million and $157 million. Midway just couldn't figure out what they were doing and even though they teamed up with Warner Bros., they still struggled with maintaining their revenue. And even in the case of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, planned DLC was scrapped due to Midway's financial troubles. This allowed them to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and subsequently sell most of their assets to Warner Bros. Games with the intention of them to purchase the Midway Games trademark.

The key takeaway is that Midway started out as an independent manufacturer for amusement equipment to develop arcade games with several companies and pinball machines. When became a focus to make games for home consoles, Midway shown their perseverance as a great company to the gaming industry.

This is where we get to something really exciting. Midway has been a nostalgic company that lasted and ceased operations on the 7th generation era of gaming. For the PlayStation Plus Premium news, this month's lineup came with a bombshell regarding wanting to play games that are produced by Midway Games.

Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy is now available on classics catalog for the PS4 and PS5, so when you visit the game's hub, you'll see the "Warner Bros. Interactive" label, making it the first Midway game to ever come to the catalog. The label had to be shown because Warner Bros. Interactive owned most of Midway's assets, bought the company out and purchased the Midway trademark and used it to make most of the franchises be published under the WB Games name. The game was left off in a cliffhanger and a sequel was supposed to resolve it, but despite positive reviews, it never came into fruition due to the Mindgate Conspiracy's poor sales. If Warner Bros. plans to remaster this game to hit fans right in the heart, maybe they can develop the sequel if the remaster is sold well.

So, a precedent has spoken and been set. If a Midway title like Psi-Ops could make it to the classics catalog, then other Midway titles like Rampage, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Area 51, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Midway Arcade Treasures, NFL Blitz and a lot more now have more of a chance since hubs for future Midway titles will carry the Warner Bros. Interactive label. This doesn't apply to PlayStation Plus Premium. This also applies to Nintendo Switch Online's GBA, N64 and GameCube catalogs. Neither of them hadn't got a Midway game yet, but they will have one at some point.

And that is my story about Chicago's video game company and how it became a great company to the game industry with news in regards to the classics catalog having a game by Midway. While I am sad that Midway had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after financial difficulties, they were not the first nor the only company to actually file for bankruptcy in the 2000s.

The first company that filed for bankruptcy in the 2000s was the 3DO Company. They declared bankruptcy after they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to their games' poor sales, but nobody purchased the 3DO trademark. Data East filed for bankruptcy and most of their games were acquired and the Data East trademark was purchased by G-Mode Corporation. Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and sold their assets to multiple existing companies while executives purchased the Acclaim trademark. And finally, THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold all of their assets to multiple companies and Nordic Games, who would acquire mainline franchises and purchase the THQ trademark and use it to rename themselves as THQ Nordic.

The 3DO Company, Data East, Acclaim, Midway and THQ were the five companies that had to file for bankruptcy respectively and they are deemed as nostalgic. G-Mode, Warner Bros. Games and THQ Nordic purchased the Data East, Midway Games and the THQ trademarks and logos and used them to ensure growth while the 3DO trademark was left unacquired. Executives did purchase the Acclaim trademark and used it to relaunch the company as an indie publisher. That's why we don't see Warner Bros. Games, THQ Nordic or G-Mode as nostalgic since they exist in this generation.

I did a post that talks about how we experience Mortal Kombat forever because of both Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios and the competition between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Here's a link to the post if you're interesting in knowing more.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/05/how-mortal-kombat-changed-series-forever.html

The Gaming Industry Knows Better Than This...

Wow... just wow. I went digging on the internet and I came across something. Someone who has been accused of sexual harassment in the past is continuing to have a leverage in the game industry because somebody has given the dirtbag a second chance. Let's... jump right in!

Where do I even begin on this one? I was playing the Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Open Beta and it became a blast. I already came up with a team to use in the full game. I can't reveal it just yet. I'm probably gonna get the PC version. It's not just the fact that PlayStation is ending discs for games that release in 2028 in a way to shift to an all-digital format, but not for games that release prior to 2028. I can only play PS4 games that are stored in my 4TB hard drive. I'm getting the PC version so that I can have free online multiplayer. However, the PC version has some gameplay and performance issues during the Open Beta like the stuttering in logos, which can be fixed in the full game. The best about this is that I have submitted my logo request for this game to Broken Saw. But it's on hold due to limiting ten submissions per user.

After the Marvel Tokon Open Beta ended, I have came across something that shocked me. This is in regards to the situation about someone who was accused in the past is involved in the development of Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, an Aquapazza-like fighting game that is developed by Gameplay Group International. You might know that they are the same developers that made Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age. The PS5 and Steam versions are available to play, The Switch 2 version will release later on this year with the Standard Edition only. For the Xbox side of things, it has been delayed to September 3 due to unforseen circumstances.

Avatar Legends became the source of scrutiny earlier this month when Paramount Games confirmed that they found someone who is accused in the past working at Gameplay Group International as an individual contributor. Guess who Paramount found. Mike Zaimont. That is ridiculous. There's no way an accused individual like Mike Zaimont would have a future in the game industry after he destroyed Lab Zero with his refusal to leave the company, right? Well, I decided to go even deeper.

Six years later, Lab Zero Games posted a joint statement saying that Mariel Cartwright, Francesca Esquenazi and Mike Zaimont have agreed to resolve the lawsuit relating to the events at Lab Zero in 2020. The lawsuit was aborted and Mike remains passionate about game development and looks forward to continuing to create new games and contribute to the community through Lab Zero. I just can't wrap my head around this! I thought Mike Zaimont is not supposed to have a future in the game industry! Not especially since he sexually harassed his fellow employees. But how is that even possible?! There is one person who is responsible of this. That person is Christine Christina Seeyle. What did she do?

Back in 2023, three years after Mike was accused of sexual harassment, Seeyle was pressed by PC Gamer about his work on Diesel Legacy. Do you know what Seeyle has done? She approved Mike Zaimont's continued involvement in the game industry and his employment and defended her decision, acknowledging the validity of past allegations and went on to say that he "wanted the opportunity to have the redemptive arc that's in so many stories they love."

I just can't believe this... I just can't... Can you spare my G-rated rant and backlash because there are a few words to express how shocked I am about this.

During the One More Once stream in 2020, Mike Zaimont has caused the backlash by making a dark and sadistic "I can't breathe" joke following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin. People had uninstalled Skullgirls in making calls to get it off Evo, until he apologized about making a much too soon joke. I understand what he meant by much too soon because he should've waited until the stream is over before making that sadistic joke. Then he sexually harassed the two gamer girls. But I don't want to put a slant on them because sexually harassing those who are not a part of the game industry is something I understand. Then he did that to his fellow employees! That caused his fellow employees to leave Lab Zero and establish Future Club in September. That's how extra stuff were scrapped for Indivisible.

Then Hidden Variable made a statement saying that they are no longer be working with Lab Zero Games and they plan to work with people who left Lab Zero to bring future Skullgirls content for years to come. In fact, Skullgirls stays alive because of the fact that a publisher like Autumn Games is the holder of the Skullgirls IP, which is a safe method. And despite the allegations, Mike Zaimont was involved in the development of the rollback netcode patch for Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus and was suspended from it.

Three years later, do you know what happened? Christine Christina Seeyle given that blasted dirtbag a second chance in the game industry for redemption and defended her decision to do so! No wonder he is involved and employed in the development of Avatar Legends! How dare she use a redemption stick on a person who was accused of sexual harassment in the past! She should know that those who are accused of sexual harassment and destroyed the company SHOULD NOT be given a second chance at the game industry, period! This is bull! I can't believe this! That woman defended her decision to give a garbage person a second chance in the industry, like we're gonna forget about the part where he sexually harassed his fellow employees at Lab Zero? This is some messed up garbage fest right there!

You can compare and contrast the part where Mike Zaimont sexually harassed his fellow employees and the part where Joey Cuellar, former Evo president, was exposed a pedophile after the part in Mikey's story shown that he paid young boys tokens to take off their clothes and jump in water hazard pools in the miniature golf joint and Mikey $20 to show his... donkey in the restroom. Hearing Mikey's allegations made players and supporters to withdraw from Evo Online in solidarity with those who has spoken out against abuse, like MANE6, NetherRealm Studios, Capcom and Bandai Namco. But that was a couple months before Mike Zaimont sexually harassed his fellow employees. In fact, pedophiles are way worse than those who conducted sexual harassment towards their fellow employees since pedophiles don't deserve a second chance that they are more dangerous. Oh yeah! Joey Cuellar is way worse than Mike Zaimont! 

I can't believe Seeyle defended her decision to give an accused individual like Mike Zaimont a second chance despite allegations of sexual harassment! It was a horrible move to make! I just don't understand why Seeyle given the sexual harasser a second chance in the game industry. This is the unforseen circumstances Gameplay Group International was referring to. People are returning this game and the game's Xbox release had to be delayed just hours before release because they found out that Mike Zaimont, of all people, is involved in the development of Avatar Legends. They are not playing this game on his behalf. Not even me.

Seriously, how could she defend her decision to give that blockhead, of all people, a second chance in the game industry despite being pressed by PC Gamer? I know he didn't abuse minors like Joey Cuellar did, but still. Where is her freaking honor? I mean, there are a lot of people who are awesome and never been alleged of sexual misconduct like Isaiah Turner, Tom Cannon, Seth Killian and any of the other treasure trove of virtuous individuals that never sexually harassed anyone, but she turned around and employed that POS like Mike Zaimont to work on Diesel Legacy? No no no no! She should've known better than to use a redemption stick on a POS person!

I gotta calm down because that part I came across made me mad. I am basically passionate about this situation. Seeyle is responsible of giving Michael Zaimont a second chance and defending her decision. People are returning this game and/or not playing it on his behalf. I don't care if Joey Cuellar is way worse than him. When we say that Mike Zaimont SHOULD NOT be having a future in the industry, we mean it. However, I do have a scintilla of interest in getting Avatar Legends. It's three reasons.

One is because of being an Aquapazza-like fighting game. I played Aquapazza before. It was a really niche game for the PS3 with characters from the Aquaplus visual novels and I loved it. Avatar Legends became an Aquapazza-like fighting game in terms of gameplay and selecting playable and assist characters.

The second reason is an opportunity to play this game on the behalf of people who are never accused. Since this game is making a first appearance on Evo France like Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is, they will be playing it there, but not on Mike's behalf.

The third reason is to add this game and Marvel Tokon to my livestreaming arsenal with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO. I am investing in an Ethernet cord to fight lag and have a stable online experience so that I can play my matches well in these games without experiencing any lag with the exception of the lag from the ISP.

See, I realized why I kept on experiencing the error screen in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. I was using Wi-Fi. Investing in an Ethernet cord remedies that and that's gonna be my new standard going forward, especially if its made to provide a stable experience until Wifi 8 comes out to provide stability as a wired conection. I didn't sign up for the Avatar Legends Closed Beta, but I did sign up for the Marvel Tokon Betas. The Open Beta was a blast that I already came up with a team to use in the full game.

The point is... *sigh* those who are alleged of sexual harassment and killed the studio should not be redeemed. When I said that if a player like... I don't know... Hikari could win back to back Evo titles in a row, then anything was possible, I didn't mean Mike Zaimont should be showing his face in the game industry again, which he shouldn't. Not after he killed Indivisible with his refusal to resign from Lab Zero that made everyone left to form Future Club.

Seeyle, Seelye, Seeyle, please reverse your decision to redeem Mike Zaimont, because as I have said before, he shouldn't be having a future in the industry, period, especially since he killed the upcoming content and the planned Peacock adaptation for Indivisible.

NEW SEGA vs. Capcom Info Revealed!

The very first livestream for SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level went live and we have gotten a lot of info in regards to the passion project, including what has made me very excited. *drinks water* Let's jump right in.

I'm here with a new SEGA vs. Capcom post that has some great news for us SEGA and Capcom fans. Yesterday, I have watched the gameplay livestream and the info they given us during the livestream made me very hyped. Before I get to them, there is one thing that I need to explain.

Who is 4CYDE Studios? They are a small team behind the fangame. Currently, there are two people consisting of Madxruler and FaRe'N'HiTe, with FaRe'N'HiTe being the composer and Madxruler being the developer. There are two for now, but they will have more people to join. The more people, the better.

Now we can dive into the main meat of the post. First off, the characters department. A lot of characters have been confirmed to have a guaranteed playable debut. But I want to talk about which characters that interest me. First off, NiGHTS. The team has confirmed that NiGHTS is guaranteed to be in the roster. This brought me to say that NiGHTS would be amazing. He became a guest character in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Our dream jester never appeared in a fighting game, so NiGHTS coming to SEGA vs. Capcom is an impressive deal to me that they don't have a shortage of characters to confirm since it's a fan-made game.

Not only NiGHTS is confirmed to be a playable character because Ulala from Space Channel 5 and Bayonetta are also confirmed to be playable right off the bat. Ulala would be dope as heck in SEGA vs. Capcom. What is cool is that since she is into music, landing a hit on her opponent can make music. Bayonetta would be too since she is featured in Smash 4. I believe that straight up confirming these two characters would literally be the best thing that 4CYDE Studios would do.

FaRe'N'HiTe is the composer of the passion project. He straight up confirmed that there will be character themes for each character. However, they are gonna be in Season 2 as stage themes will come out in Season 1. This is something that has me very excited. Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 3 have character themes and so will SEGA vs. Capcom. This brings me to ask this question. How will character themes work in SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level? There are three ways.

1. Through the setting that switches between stage and character themes. When set to character themes, it plays the character's theme for the character on the either side and the character theme for the character that comes in after the death of their teammate.
2. Taking the chapter from 2XKO's playbook. The stage theme plays during the first round and the character theme plays in subsequent rounds after a character KOs the last standing opponent, but plays the stage theme on subsequent rounds after a timeout.
3. Choosing a song using Marvel Tokon's playbook.

This is important to remember that this can go only one way.

And finally, Special Partners. A while back, they confirmed that Special Partners will be brought to SEGA vs. Capcom at some point. They are NPCs that have assists and will be similar to the ones in Marvel vs. Capcom 1, and not just Marvel vs. Capcom 1, but also Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax and the Kameo system in Mortal Kombat 1.

See, 4CYDE Studios has a bevy, I mean, a bevy of characters just straight up confirmed to be in SEGA vs. Capcom for quite some time now and it's working. Zero, Jon Talbain, Ristar and even B.D. Joe have been confirmed, with favorites like NiGHTS, Ulala, Shadow the Hedgehog, Bayonetta, and Falcon from Power Stone to be coming to the game in the future. I have countless testimonies telling me that people would like to see Crash Bandicoot get added as a guest star, but that will never be the case. But I do know that since they have a bevy of characters confirmed, I would like to see Hugh and Diana from Pragmata get added to the roster. But as sort of a Ferra/Torr-like to make Diana sit on Hugh in game, not as separate characters.

If this game gets a lot of hype and love it deserves, maybe we can put this game at a future Evo Vegas event like how it was featured at Combo Breaker last year as a part of the Mystery Game Tournament. Not as a main game, but as a part of the side tournament since SEGA vs. Capcom is a fanmade fighting game.

This oddities you saw in the gameplay livestream like the outdated screens that take place at BETA 2.75 will not be present in the final build as the livestream took place in a very early build. That's why Beat was not in there. But what things that will be in the final build are the new in-game UI and new soundtracks that will release upon the launch of Season 1, including the new character select theme that I found actually catchier than the other one that it sets the mood for the SEGA and Capcom universes. If the game comes out on my 32nd birthday, it's gonna be a birthday present for me. I have a birthday livestream planned and coming soon.

Do you know what I want in SEGA vs. Capcom? Duo Play. Duo Play is essentially a feature in 2XKO that involves playing as a duo by both players on the same team. Teammates have their own character to pick. It pretty much lives up to being played best as a duo. Duo Play in SEGA vs. Capcom sounds like an impressive feature to me. We do have a 4-player game mode, Cross Fever, but we can change that to being 1-4 players to apply to wanting Duo Play implemented in SEGA vs. Capcom in most game modes, including online modes.

Now, since SEGA vs. Capcom in its full-fledged glory is getting closer to releasing this month, it will definetely tide us over for Luxanna Crownguard's brilliant entrance in 2XKO and that's something we can look forward to. And not just Lux, but Samira as well. And during full release, this game can learn from the things 2XKO has done. If you're interested in learning more about Lux and Samira's launch in 2XKO and its nuances and the things that SEGA vs. Capcom can learn from 2XKO, I have the links to the posts below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/07/2xko-2026-characters-theory-update-4.html
https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/01/what-sega-vs-capcom-can-learn-from-2xko.html

PlayStation is Going All-Digital

We have some breaking news that PlayStation is undergoing a shift to all digital starting in 2028, meaning that new games that release beyond the date will be all digital while games that were released prior to the date will still carry physical discs. This is not a joke or a rumor. PlayStation is officially ditching discs and going all digital. Let's... jump right in?

I'm back a new post that left me quite shocked. Today, gaming has been having a lot of challenges, especially most recently with the gaming industry. With the PS6 and Xbox Helix on their way, everyone is petitioning for these systems to be priced reasonably. And there is a piece of news that shocked us.

PlayStation has announced that starting in 2028, they are going to cease production on physical discs and focus on releasing new games beyond the point digitally. This comes from the market shift and players making an approach on doing digital purchases, indicating that physical copies will have digital codes inside the cases. Then they went silent for six days and made a post again about the FlexStrike wireless stick, ignoring widespread backlash. This news was met with mixed reactions, with those hailing it as the end of an era for gaming and those that are lazy to put in discs hailed it as an agreeable decision that they prefer to buy them digitally since they can't break digital and those outraged to put #NoDiscNoBuy on their posts.

Why they are doing this is because the PS6 will not have a disc drive at launch. But they will have a separate disc drive to play previous gen games on disc, the ones that release prior to 2028. People are willing to treasure their physical games forever since PlayStation is doing away with disc production starting in 2028. One person believed that putting game discs on a shelf is not the future of gaming. They read the Arabic writing on the wall and said it's time to stop disc production and go all digital, so a Change.org petition was created to urge PlayStation to change their minds and continue producing discs for the foreseeable future.

This backlash-worthy news is tantamount with the physical copies of GTA VI just having a code that gives players access to the game. After Rockstar has announced a cover art for the game that fits well with the fictional setting of Leonida where GTA VI will take place at, pre-orders went live and the physical copies' lack of discs is gonna be a disaster for retailers that are planning to boycott the game until Rockstar starts printing discs for physical copies. This doesn't just apply to AAA titles, but indies as well. This just tells me that Sony is absolutely tone-deaf, acting like children while sticking their fingers in their ears and screaming, "I'm not listening!" as the petition has hit over 150,000 signatures.

The only bad thing about PlayStation undergoing a shift to going all-digital is that it's gonna be a total nightmare for retailers since digital purchases offer revocable licenses, not ownership. Ending support for discs comes with something even worse than that. Our accounts will be deleted after three years of inactivity. This is the stupidest and the most retarded agreement Sony has ever enforced. The fact that PlayStation ending disc support in 2028 and deleting our accounts after three years of inactivity should be a crime against humanity and nature of gaming themselves. Xbox and Nintendo never do this. The stupid decisions Sony had made; they became backlash-worthy. It was worse than when Pokemon in their possession were wiped out from Pokemon Home after people pivoted to the Switch 2.

Another problem with Sony's disc-free future is that PS5 games that are in an external storage device can't be played, but PS4 games in an external storage device can be played. This is Sony's attempt to have a monopoly over the gaming market with their greed. If Sony keeps ignoring to the fierce backlash, if players are going to buy games digitally, they are seriously switching over to Steam since digital purchases on Steam provide ownership rather than revocable licenses and Steam games are also playable through the external hard drive. When they made an announcement to end physical media on 2028, they went silent. Then they made a post about the FlexStrike wireless stick, ignoring backlash, like it's gonna pass.

Now, this is not the first time something like this has happened in the department of backlash-worthy events among the gaming community. Cards Unbound was implemented to Paladins in the OB64 update, free Hextech Chests were removed in League of Legends, content and art have been censored in Skullgirls 2nd Encore, aggression was encouraged in Tekken 8 at the beginning of Season 2, predatory microtransactions were implemented in Skate. and Crazy Taxi: World Tour has AI-generated content. This has been a continuous point of contention that these events angered the gaming community and caused them to make calls to boycott these games and companies until they fix things to relieve backlash. Trust me, if you keep track of and live through the era of backlash-worthy events like I do, both inside and outside gaming, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

In other news, not only PlayStation is ending physical media. They announced that they will also be closing the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita in select markets this year and the rest of the markets next year as they focus their support on modern consoles since the PS3 is deemed a retro console like the Xbox 360 and the Wii despite it being a tough nut to crack because of the notorious Cell processor that prevented modern consoles from ever having full backwards compatibility. But who needs full backwards compatibility when we have emulation? After the dates, games you bought in the PS Store will remain playable while physical PS3 games will still work.

This seals the deal. I agree with the backlash against Sony's decision to stop producing discs for games that release in 2028. If Sony doesn't listen to the backlash and reverse their decision by 2028, I'll be taking my digital purchases on Steam. But I don't want to put a slant on indies or retro games because indies have less space and are less-memory intensive and I get to revisit my games I played during my childhood. I like to make myself clear that when I buy games digitally, I own them, not being granted a revocable license.

And Sony, if you're going all-digital, please don't take away our ownership rights at least. Digital purchases should at least provide ownership licenses, not revocable licenses. Heck, might as well do the same thing Xbox is doing, having a disc-to-digital feature. They're keeping discs relevant and not phasing them out. Please listen to the mass backlash or you'll be facing a major boycott from players that are shifting to Steam until you do.

2XKO 2026 Characters Theory (UPDATE 4)

The final two remaining characters of 2026 have been unveiled at Evo and both of them are the characters I wanted, but not the ones I theorized in the initial post. Let's jump right in!

Boy howdy, the announcement at Evo became a quite a bombshell. I originally thought that we won't be able to get something special after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Vegas, but we actually got something special. Anyway, let's get to the main meat and the knitty gritty of the final update regarding my theory of who will be the 2026 characters coming to 2XKO.

Now, on the previous post, I originally said Lucian is likely to be the fifth and penultimate character of 2026 and Katarina would be the final character of the year to make it synonymous to Spyro: A Realm Beyond. Well, guess what? It is officially none of them. See, I understand that when people expect to see Katarina on every reveal trailer, they get let down and disappointed every single time. Now, she might be a Year 2 character, but in terms of people expecting Katarina being tantamount to expecting Sora from Kingdom Hearts, don't get your hopes up.

I really thought that we won't get to see announcements after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Vegas, but guess what? We actually did unlike in Evo Japan, and the final two Year 1 characters have been revealed there. While none of them that are announced are in my Year 1 wish list, they are actually the two characters in my general wish list. Who are the last two Year 1 characters? Let's roll the trailer and find out who they are.

She looks peak and broken. Ladies and gentlemen, the final two Year 1 characters, Lux, the Lady of Luminosity, and Samira, the Desert Rose, have been officially revealed at Evo 2026. It's time for the breakdown.

As you watched the trailer, Lux swings her two-sided wand, which can't be done in League of Legends, comes with a Demacia-themed stage and has an intro dialogue with Senna. For any eagle-eyed fans who are watching the trailer, the stage has statues of Galio and Kayle in the background. Lux's full trailer is coming out in Fall 2026, meaning that her launch is a week after her full trailer drops, just in time for Evo France. At the end of the trailer, Lux will not be the only upcoming character because Samira, the Desert Rose, is also revealed to be the final Year 1 character.

Now let's go over the things on why am I excited for both characters. I have several reasons specifically for Lux and Samira, general reasons and one concern.

Very First Demacia Character:

2XKO never had a Demacian character yet. League of Legends' commemoration of Demacia is going strong so far and the story is developing. I wanted a Demacian to be in the roster and it's working. Lux will be the first Demacian to ever come to 2XKO with a Demacia-themed stage, and it's a developing story to honor League of Legends' Demacia Rising event.

Setting the Stage for Garen and Other Demacia Champions:

A precedent has been set. If Luxanna Crownguard can make her debut to 2XKO as the first ever Demacia character, then anyone in Demacia can make their debut to 2XKO, including her brother, Garen Crownguard. But luckily, because Lux is coming to 2XKO, Garen is highly likely to make his debut to 2XKO as his sister did, along with a few others like Jarvan IV, Vayne, Sona, Shyvana, Galio, Quinn, Kayle, Xin Zhao and even Locke, who is the most recent Demacian character in League of Legends. I have some countless testimonies telling me that Tianna Crownguard might potentially be a playable character in League of Legends. We'll see. But I'm expecting Garen more than others so that we can experience a Demacian brother and sister duo in 2XKO.

Filling in the Lines:

If you don't know what do I mean by this, if you scroll down on the League of Legends homepage, you'll see the Classes section of the homepage that says Choose Your Champion. As you click on a class symbol, it shows the character as an example of a certain class. Akali is an example of an Assassin character, Yasuo is an example of a Fighter character, Jinx is an example of a Marksman character, Thresh is an example of a Support character and Lux is an example of a Mage character. And when you click on a Tank symbol, it displays Leona as an example of a Tank character.

I do not think that this is a simple coincidence. Leona displaying on the site when clicking on the Tank symbol suggests that the Radiant Dawn is likely to come to 2XKO as the very first Targonian character to come with a Targon-themed stage, which would be nice because I love to see Leona in 2XKO, but as a full-fledged playable character since she is in the background of Kiramman Yacht with other characters in their Pool Party skins. This suggests that the characters in the background other than Ahri and Caitlyn could mean that they could potentially become playable characters, making fans of League of Legends and fighting games swoon and lose their minds.

Design Update:

As the trailer unfolds, someone pops up and I was like, "Who is that teaming up with Senna?" It is clearly Lux, but in her 2XKO design. Notice that she is wearing her boots and her royal dress of the Crownguard family in the medieval times? This shows that Lux's design in 2XKO is completely different than her League of Legends design, and that's the point of this. Champions feature visual adjustments to better fit the fighting game environment.

Second Noxus Character:

During her childhood, Samira was once a Shurima character until she hails to earn her true calling in Noxus to become a stylish daredevil with her stylish moves accompanied by her twin pistols and a blade, deeming her a Noxian. Darius won't be the only Noxian in the roster any longer because we're getting the second Noxian being Samira. He is, in fact, on the list of characters she is releated to. I woudn't be shocked if we would eventually be gettng a Shuriman turned Noxian daredevil. I mean, Samira was a Shuriman in her childhood.

A Dante-Like?:

When I was watching 2XKO Pools at Evo 2026, the commentators had a conversation about hearing rumors regarding a female character in League of Legends that could be a Dante-like in 2XKO. The rumors are true. We are officially getting a Dante-like in 2XKO, so who is gonna have Dante's playbook in 2XKO? Samira. She is a stylish daredevil in Noxus with her twin pistols and a blade to indicating her a Dante-like, hence "stylish". This is the buzz that I have been hearing on social media and from the commentators.

The 17th Character:

The excitement focuses on 2XKO's character select screen.

If you look at the current placement that holds up to 16 characters, there are currently 15 characters in the roster. We are one character away from filling out the bottom right row. The 16th character that will fill out the bottom right row is Lux. Having 17 characters this year gives us an opportunity to find out what the selection will look like once the 17 character, which is Samira, launches. But what will it look like?

Well, there are two ways to manipulate the selection to make room for more characters after Lux. I went to MS Paint and worked on two ways on how will the devs manipulate the selection of characters to make enough room for the 17th character and beyond.

For the first method, I am going to compare and contrast with the character select screen in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

The select screen has three rows and 59 character portraits on it. I'm using this as a demonstration on how will they manipulate the selection to pave the way for Samira and beyond.

How will they do it is that they shorten the height and the width of the character portraits to have a third row in and narrow the random selection. This method uses Tekken Tag 2's style of a selection of characters that has 48 portraits.

For the second method, let's compare with the old and unpolished character select screen from Alpha Lab 1.

And in it are the narrower character portraits and a smaller Random selection button.

If they go for this method to manipulate the selection of characters, they can narrow the portraits and the random selection by 50%. This one doubles the number of portraits to 32, which I think this method can be done first before doing the Tekken Tag 2-style placement. The width of the portraits is, in fact, shown on the cabinet's screen during the part where we choose our characters.

These are my two designs to suggest on how are they gonna manipulate the portraits to make enough room for the 17th character and beyond. Again, the top design that holds up to 32 characters is actually ideal to go with first. Once the 33rd character launches, the bottom design would be next to hold up to 48 characters. After all, I am excited to see more characters get added becuase of a small roster on a tag fighter.

More Girls?!:

Yes, 2XKO is getting more girls as the last two Year 1 characters are both female characters. The funny thing about this is that when I was watching the Father and Son Beatdown covering SEGA vs. Capcom, Deen said it's gonna have four more girls at the end of the video. That one made me laugh. But there are actually three more girls. Vyse is the only male character on the docket.

I know that there are some people that fighting games don't need more female characters, but the majority of the FGC do. Heck, I want a fighting game to have more female characters and 2XKO is one of them to tell you that I don't want to be a sexist, like those who were critical about an upcoming God of War featuring a female protagonist. Year 1 has, in fact, five female characters and one male character. There is an excellent chance for the roster to have more female characters than male characters when Samira launches.

Double-Header Release:

This has to be my concern because if the remaining two characters were released simultaneously, the 16-character roster wouldn't be given a chance. We were supposed to have a 14-character roster, but Thresh's release had to coincide with Senna's release to give the 15-character roster a chance to honor the lore that surrounds the part where Thresh traps Senna in his lantern until she broke out of it to gain powers of the Black Mist.

This question comes to mind. If Lux and Samira are coming to 2XKO, are they releasing simultaneously? No, I don't think they are. The 16-character roster may be given a chance and there is no lore surrounding these characters.

Special Skins:

If you keep track of the Competitive Series, participating at Major events offers players a special skin for characters that just launched. Evo Japan 2026 offered Blood Moon Akali, Evo 2026 offered Pool Party Senna, Evo France 2026 will offer a special skin for Lux, and finally, Battle Coliseum will offer a special skin for Samira. Since there are five Major events and six new characters, they had to coincide Thresh's launch with Senna's launch to launch them on the same day and get them ready for their legal debut for Evo, honoring the lore.

However, Lux and Samira coming to 2XKO isn't the only thing I'm very excited for because there's another thing that I am also quite excited for. A new character beyond the first ten has been revealed at end of the Sakura Shinguji trailer for SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. That is Beat from Jet Set Radio.

That's right, Beat is officially coming to SEGA vs. Capcom as the 11th character to commemorate Jet Set Radio's 26th Anniversary. He is in fact shown on the art to indicate that he has been confirmed and in development for quite some time now. Our rollerblading lad is gonna step into the roster at launch while Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter is being reworked and will be returning in a post-launch update with the release of the confirmed 12th character that is likely a Capcom character. 4Cyde Studios is having their first ever gameplay livestream for SEGA vs. Capcom on July 9th. Be sure to catch the livestream if you're interested.

If you're eager to try out Demacia's luminous angel, well, I have good news for you. Since it's currently July, SEGA vs. Capcom is nearing its full-fledged release with the Season 1 launch. It is the perfect time and opportunity to play SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level in its full-fledged level to tide us over for Lux's release.

Instead of ending this post empty-handed, to make us hyped about both SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch in July and Lux and Samira's launch in 2XKO, let's take a look at where the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points will stand now that Lux and Samira are revealed at Evo after Top 8. Again, this is just for creativity and imagination, so please don't lawsuit me for defamation.

Characters so far:

Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Lux
Samira
Senna
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

I'm gonna take the 17-character roster and divide it into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points this roster will come with. Since this year is seeing 17 characters, the Capcom side will be short by one character on the SEGA side until we get an 18th character. Let's divide the roster. As usual, we'll start with the SEGA side.

Samira is initially introduced, Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo remain. The SEGA side puts Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo.

Lux is initially introduced, Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Senna, Thresh and Warwick remain. That puts Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Star Gladiator
Senna on the Capcom side = Devil May Cry
Thresh on the Capcom side = Ghosts n' Goblins
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers

Now, with no fighting game goggles on, no bias. Looking at the info, it is really developing and all coming together as all six new characters have been revealed.

It sucks that we will not get to see Katarina make it to the light of day this year, but thankfully, Samira is coming to 2XKO as the second Noxian. Arucelli stated that she will be in a future roster when she submitted her concept art to the designers for her redesign stage and it's exactly like that. Does this mean that our red-haired assassin will never make it to the light of day? Absolutely not. Katarina is still likely and not ruled out, so just have faith in Riot and keep believing in our red-haired assassin until she is materialized.

It takes four updates, but we have reached the ends of my predictions on who will be the 2026 characters. Lux and Samira--they are the two characters that are not hypothetical, but they are the characters I wanted since they are in my general wish list anyway.