Marvel Tōkon PC Version Blocked in 100+ Countries Over PSN Link, Sony Repeats Old Mistake

Sony has stumbled into yet another PlayStation Network access controversy, this time with its upcoming fighting game Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. According to PC Gamer, the PC version of the game is unavailable to purchase or play in more than 100 countries because it requires players to link a PSN account, a service that simply doesn’t operate in those regions.

It’s a problem gamers on PC have seen before, and one that Sony insisted it had learned from. Instead, players in dozens of countries across Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe who don’t have PSN coverage are finding themselves locked out of a game they can otherwise see listed on Steam, unable to complete the mandatory account link that unlocks play.

Marvel Tōkon’s PSN Requirement Repeats the Helldivers 2 Playbook

The situation mirrors what happened with Helldivers 2 in May 2024, when Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony attempted to enforce a retroactive PSN linking requirement on the PC version. That move triggered a massive Steam review-bomb campaign and forced the game to be pulled from sale in more than 100 countries where PSN accounts couldn’t be created, before Sony ultimately backed down and scrapped the mandate entirely.

Marvel Tōkon appears to be running into the exact same wall, only this time the restriction is baked in from the start rather than added after launch. For a publisher that publicly walked back an identical policy less than two years ago, repeating the mistake on a new title suggests the lesson didn’t stick internally, or that different teams within PlayStation Studios and its partners aren’t coordinating on regional account policy.

Why PSN’s Regional Gaps Keep Causing Steam Headaches

PlayStation Network simply isn’t licensed to operate everywhere Steam is. That mismatch is the root of the recurring problem: a game can be sold globally on Valve’s storefront, yet still demand a linked account service that Sony has never rolled out to well over 100 territories.

For fighting game fans specifically, this is a frustrating way to discover a new title. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has been positioned as a fresh entry in the crowded Marvel fighting space, competing for attention against established names, and any barrier to entry on PC risks fragmenting a community that thrives on cross-region tournaments, online lobbies, and shared matchmaking pools.

What This Means for Players Outside Supported PSN Regions

Until Sony either drops the requirement or expands PSN account availability, anyone in an unsupported country who buys or wishlists Marvel Tōkon on Steam risks ending up with a game they cannot actually launch. Given how the Helldivers 2 situation resolved, with Sony reversing course under sustained community pressure and negative review scores, there’s a clear precedent for how this could play out again if the backlash escalates.

Players in Australia and New Zealand aren’t among the affected regions, since PSN is fully supported locally, but the episode is a reminder of how tightly PlayStation’s account infrastructure is now woven into PC releases from Sony-affiliated studios. Anyone importing keys for friends overseas, or recommending the game to contacts in unsupported territories, should double check PSN availability before buying.

Sony’s Pattern of PC Account-Linking Missteps

This is now the second high-profile instance in under two years of a Sony-linked PC release running into the same regional wall, following Helldivers 2’s chaotic mid-2024 saga. It raises a fair question for the wider PC gaming community: whether Sony has actually built a consistent internal check for new releases, or whether each publishing partner is left to rediscover the PSN region problem on its own.

Shane the Gamer will continue following how Sony and Marvel Tōkon’s developers respond, and whether the PSN requirement gets pulled the way it eventually was for Helldivers 2.

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