The cracked PC version of Sony Interactive Entertainment and Arc System Works’ latest fighting game, Marvel Tokon, reportedly brings a major performance improvement.
Reddit user Impossible-Fan-8257 and ResetEra member Kei- have independently described surprisingly large performance differences between the protected PC release of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and a cracked version with Theia encryption removed. Removing the game’s DRM not only improves frame rate and frame-time consistency, but also reduces CPU utilization, temperatures, memory consumption, and the headroom to run with higher graphical settings.
The Reddit user tested the cracked PC version of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls after seeing claims that it performed better than the original release. They tested the game on a system with an RTX 4060 Ti GPU, an Intel i7-14700KF CPU, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM. During the pre-release Open Beta, they needed to use Performance Mode, with CPU utilization around 40–60%, in order to maintain a frame rate of 60 fps. They also experienced inconsistent frame rates and occasional stuttering, which required them to restart the game. The shader warming step in the settings menu sometimes helped, but produced inconsistent results.
With the DRM-removed version, however, the Reddit user said they could maintain a smooth 60 fps while using the game’s maximum-quality settings. They also reported that manually loading shaders was no longer necessary for smooth gameplay. Some issues remained, including stutters while performing Level 1, Level 2 Supers and Tokon Attacks, as well as surprisingly heavy frame drops due to certain UI elements. Audio problems during wall splats and wall breaks were also observed while recording through OBS.
Meanwhile, the ResetEra member compared performance metrics using their purchased PC copy of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and the cracked version that removes Theia encryption. Based on their OSD stats, the protected version used around 84% CPU at 69C, compared with approximately 36% CPU at 53C after Theia was removed. GPU utilization fell from 87% to 38%, while memory usage dropped from 8.56GB to 7.20GB. Most importantly, they reported frequent dips from 60 fps into the mid-50s or lower with the protected version, versus a steady 60 fps and much more consistent frame times without the encryption.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls was released on August 6, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC.
