With Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite‘s release date drawing closer, fans can expect six fighters to join the game’s roster, bringing the character count to 36.
Capcom announced that Monster Hunter, Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Venom, along with the previously announced Sigma and Black Panther, will join the game before the year’s end. Each of these characters, with the exception of Venom, are newcomers to the crossover fighting game.
Of the additional characters, four (Black Panther, Black Widow, Venom, Winter Solider) belong to Marvel and two (Sigma, Monster Hunter) represent Capcom’s side of the fight. This brings the roster to a 19-to-17 split, with Marvel edging over the Japanese developer.
In an interview for VG24/7, Mike Evans and Peter Rosas (aka combofiend), producers on Infinite, talked about gameplay balance concerning character potential. Both producers emphasized Infinite takes a more accessible approach to the fighting genre than the series’ past.
“We wanted to make sure that all the characters were viable,” Evans said. “So even the returning characters who we’ve brought back, if they were pretty solid … we kept their fundamental gameplay but added a couple more things.”
Historically, the franchise has kept a relatively balanced distribution of each company’s icons. Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes featured 15 fighters, seven on Marvel’s half of the roster and eight on Capcom’s. The sequel, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes had the largest list at 56 combatants, with Marvel trailing behind Capcom again by two. The third installment, MvC 3: Fate of Two Worlds has a 1:1 ratio of fighters in its 36 character list, a trend the updated Ultimate edition continued when it added 12 more faces.
Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite releases Sept. 19 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One for $59.99. A deluxe edition, including the six DLC characters and four bonus costumes for Hulk, Mega Man X, Ryu and Thor will be available for $89.99.