Marvel Tokon blocked in 132 countries on Steam, and yes, it's the PSN thing again

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, the Arc System Works fighting game published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, won't be available in 132 countries on Steam when it launches on August 6. SteamDB lists the restrictions, and the affected countries map exactly to the same 132 nations where PlayStation Network services aren't available — the same list that caused the Helldivers 2 PSN fiasco back in 2024.

There's no official explanation from Sony on the Steam store page, but the implication is clear: Marvel Tokon features crossplay between PC and PS5 at launch, and Sony appears to be requiring a linked PSN account to use it. The blocked countries include Jamaica, Iran, Belarus, Egypt, and Nigeria, among others. Critics are quick to point out that this logic doesn't hold up — PC players could simply opt out of crossplay rather than being locked out of the game entirely.

The timing makes this sting a bit more. Sony is reportedly stepping back from releasing its big single-player games on PC, shifting its PC publishing focus to live-service titles only. Marvel Tokon is exactly that kind of game, which means this PSN-gating approach is likely to become the norm rather than an exception for Sony's PC releases going forward. The Helldivers 2 situation forced Sony into a public reversal after massive community backlash — that episode became one of the more embarrassing PR moments in recent PlayStation history.

Reaction from the PC gaming community is predictably frustrated, with many drawing direct comparisons to Helldivers 2 and questioning whether Sony has learned anything from that episode. Whether Sony addresses the restrictions before the August 6 launch remains to be seen.