Marvel Tōkon beta start time and everything you’ll be able to play

I’m not usually a fighting game person, but Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is my jam. Partly because it’s superheroes, partly because it looks absolutely beautiful. And with the Marvel Tōkon beta dates coming up, our chance to finally play it is almost here—the previous playtest was exclusive to PS5, the greedy buggers.

Below, I’ll go over when you can websling into the open beta and what you can expect to have access to. While the full release is only a month away, this beta doesn’t reveal everything you’ll find on launch day. For one, we’re missing a few fighters.

When is the Marvel Tōkon beta?

The Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls beta runs for just three days on PC and PS5, from Friday, July 24, until Sunday, July 26, at the following times across the globe:

Time Zone

Start

End

US Pacific

12:00 am PT

11:59 pm PT

US Eastern

3:00 am ET

2:59 am ET

8:00 am BST

7:59 am BST (July 27)

Europe

9:00 am BST

8:59 am BST (July 27)

Australia

5:00 pm AEST

4:59 pm AEST (July 27)

New Zealand

7:00 pm NZST

6:59 pm NZST (July 27)

Japan

4:00 pm JST

3:59 pm JST

You’ll be able to download the open beta via Steam or the Epic Games Store on PC, or on PlayStation, up to two hours before the playtest goes live.

What’s in the Marvel Tōkon beta?

While the open beta features much more content than any previous closed test (which were also limited to PS5), it’s still not everything we’ll have access to at launch. Most notably, it includes 16 of the 20 characters, so a few teams are a little short-staffed:

Fighting Avengers

The Avengers are only missing the Hulk, though he’s quite a big ally to lose:

Captain AmericaIron ManBlack Panther

Unbreakable X-Men

StormMagikWolverineDanger

Amazing Guardians

Spider-ManMs. MarvelStar-LordPeni Parker

Samurai Outriders

While it’s the first time Blade’s playable, this team is missing Deadpool and Loki:

Ghost RiderBlade

Knights of Doom

We can playtest my favourite fighters on this team, but it’s without Carnage:

Doctor DoomMagnetoGreen Goblin

Outside of the almost complete roster, there will be:

Six stages

We’ll also be able to duke it out on six different stages, though the developer hasn’t confirmed how many there are in the full game yet:

Marvel’s New York (Day)Marvel’s New York (Night)Savage LandX-MansionKnowhereWakanda

Casual and ranked

Surprisingly, we’ll be able to check out the ranked mode during the beta, including climbing the ladder. Ironically, it’s probably going to be the best time for it, while most players haven’t got the knack of how to kick your ass so cleanly you can’t react.

Open Lobby

We’ll also have access to the Open Lobby between matches, where you can select an avatar and meet up with other players. You can even challenge them directly by using the arcade cabinets.

Episode mode

For the first time, we can play through the first three chapters of the story mode. Specifically, the Amazing Guardians storyline, as Spider-Man is putting together the team. What I love is that it features fully illustrated motion comic cutscenes between the standard battles, which feel very fitting.