How many copies did Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite sell by the end of December 2017?

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite sold only one million copies by the end of December 2017. This sales figure missed Capcom's target of two million units by half.

What new mechanic replaced the traditional third character slot in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite?

The Infinity Stones mechanic replaced the traditional third character slot found in previous entries. Players selected one of six stones before a match to grant unique abilities known as Infinity Surges.

Who wrote the story mode script for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite?

Paul Gardner penned the script for the story mode with oversight from Bill Rosemann. This two-hour cinematic campaign marked the first time the series focused heavily on storytelling.

When was the Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond mod released to the public?

The modding community released the Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond mod online for free in December 2024. This project began in May 2024 and took eight months to develop.

How many copies has Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite sold as of March 2025?

As of March 2025, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite has sold 2.4 million copies in overall sales. This figure represents a recovery from the initial commercial failure that occurred in 2017.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

In the summer of 2017, a video game designed to be a massive commercial success for Capcom ended up selling only one million copies, missing its target of two million by half. This was not a story of a game that was too complex for the masses, but rather one that was too different for the fans who had defined the genre for nearly two decades. The game, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, arrived with a bold promise to simplify the chaotic tag-team fighting mechanics that had made its predecessors cult classics, replacing the traditional three-on-three battles with a streamlined two-on-two system. The developers hoped this change would open the door to casual players who were fans of Marvel movies and comics, but the result was a fractured reception that left the core community feeling alienated. The decision to strip away the assist moves and the third character slot was a high-stakes gamble that ultimately cost the game its legacy, leaving it as a cautionary tale of how changing a formula can sometimes break the very thing that made it special.

The core of the game's identity rested on a new mechanic called the Infinity Stones, which replaced the traditional third character slot found in previous entries. Before a match began, players selected one of six stones, each granting a unique ability known as an Infinity Surge, such as the Power Stone's knockback effect or the Space Stone's ability to pull opponents closer. Once players filled their Infinity meter halfway, they could activate a powerful Infinity Storm, a temporary boost similar to the X-Factor system from Marvel vs. Capcom 3. This system was designed to act as a comeback enabler, allowing teams to compensate for character deficiencies and create a level playing field. The developers compared the stones to the Groove System used in Capcom vs. SNK 2, aiming to provide teams with additional customization options and increase gameplay depth. While some critics praised the stones as the crown jewel of the design, others felt they were a desperate attempt to appeal to fans of Marvel's cinematic universe rather than the fighting game community. The stones were intended to be a blank canvas for players to paint their own strategies, but the implementation often felt like a patch over a hole in the game's foundation.

The narrative of Infinite introduced a villainous alliance between Death and Jedah Dohma, who sought to achieve equilibrium between life and death by merging the Marvel and Capcom universes. The plot followed a team of heroes who had to work together to stop Ultron Sigma, a fusion of Ultron and Sigma that used the Space and Reality Stones to infect organic creatures with a synthetic virus. The story mode was a two-hour cinematic campaign that marked the first time the series had focused heavily on storytelling, with a script penned by Paul Gardner and oversight from Bill Rosemann. The heroes, including Ryu, Chun-Li, Captain America, and Hulk, traveled to various locations to retrieve the remaining Infinity Stones, facing enemies like Grandmaster Meio and MODOK along the way. The narrative took a dark turn when Thanos, initially an ally, betrayed the heroes to seek revenge against Death and Jedah, creating a mechanized gauntlet that absorbed Ryu's Satsui no Hadō. The story concluded with the destruction of Ultron Omega and the merging of the two universes, leaving the heroes to protect the new world and split the Infinity Stones between them. The plot was criticized for its awkward voice acting and unpolished character models, but it provided a framework for the game's gameplay mechanics.

The game's roster of thirty playable characters was a source of significant controversy, with many critics and fans feeling that the selection was too small and lacked diversity. The roster included new characters like Black Panther and Monster Hunter, but it also recycled many characters from previous titles, leading to accusations of a lack of innovation. The omission of characters from the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises was particularly chastised, with speculation that the ongoing legal dispute between The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Studios, and 20th Century Fox over film rights was the main motive behind their exclusion. The lack of playable female characters was also noted, with Wesley Yin-Poole of Eurogamer declaring the omission of X-Men characters as a dagger in the heart of every fan. The developers had chosen characters based on their potential interactions within the story and their gameplay style, aiming to include a variety of archetypes from small, nimble characters like Strider Hiryu to large, brawler-type characters like the Hulk. Despite these efforts, the roster was seen as a missed opportunity to showcase the dream matchups that fans had long desired.

The visual presentation of Infinite was one of the most heavily criticized aspects of the game, with many reviewers describing the art style as distractingly bad and stiff. The game used the Unreal Engine 4 to develop more cinematic and modern visuals, but the result was a simplistic and insufficiently detailed character design that many felt diminished the fighters' personalities. Alex Donaldson of VG247 stated that the art style felt off, while Sergio Figueroa of Gamereactor and Nick Valdez of Destructoid expressed disappointment with the in-game character models and the HUD. The developers had planned to release a day-one patch to focus on artistic improvements, but the initial reception was so negative that it overshadowed the game's gameplay strengths. The story mode demo was also criticized for its unpolished character models and awkward voice acting, with Polygon's David Cabrera feeling that the demo was a squandered opportunity. The visuals were compared to placeholder graphics that were never changed for the final product, and the orchestral soundtrack was described as forgettable and easily ignored. The art style was seen as a desperate attempt to appeal to fans of Marvel's all-encompassing cinematic universe, resulting in an abomination of a look that neither appealed to movie nor comic book fans.

Despite the game's ambitious goals, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite underperformed commercially, selling only one million copies by the end of December 2017, missing Capcom's target of two million units. The game debuted at number twelve on the all-formats chart in the United Kingdom, with the PlayStation 4 version peaking at number sixteen and the Xbox One version failing to reach the top forty. In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version ranked number eight on the Media Create sales chart after its first week, selling 8,273 copies, a significant drop from the 80,966 units Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds had sold in a similar time period. The game reached number six in Australia and number seven in New Zealand for its first week, and ranked number six in the United States' list of top-selling games for September 2017. Capcom described sales for Infinite as weak, stating that the game delivered a certain level of sales, primarily overseas owing to deep-rooted popularity, but underperformed overall. As of March 2025, the game has sold 2.4 million copies in overall sales, but the initial commercial failure marked a significant turning point for the franchise.

In May 2024, a modding community effort led by Maximilian Dood and Ryn/WistfulHopes began to overhaul the game's graphics, creating a mod titled Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond. The mod introduced a cel-shaded art style akin to Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and the scope of the project eventually expanded to include new art, music, modes, and balance changes. Over forty people contributed to the mod over its eight months in development, with Maximilian estimating he spent roughly 100,000 dollars of his own money to pay everyone. The mod was released online for free in December 2024, offering a new life to a game that had been criticized for its visuals. The modding community's efforts highlighted the enduring appeal of the game's gameplay mechanics, even if the original presentation had failed to meet expectations. The mod was a testament to the passion of the fighting game community, who were willing to invest their time and money to restore the game to its former glory. The mod's success demonstrated that the core of the game was still strong, even if the initial release had been flawed.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

A New System of Infinity

The Story of Ultron Sigma

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The Roster That Divided Fans

The Visuals That Disappointed

The Commercial Disappointment

The Modding Community's Redemption