Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

• 1. Introduction

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  Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 arrived in stores on the 15th of November 2011, less than nine months after the game it was based on had launched. That is an unusually short gap between a fighting game and its successor. The reason it exists at all traces back not to a creative decision but to a natural disaster: the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which knocked Capcom's downloadable content schedule off its tracks and forced the team to rethink what they had been building. What began as a set of add-ons for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds became something larger and stranger. It landed on shelves at a discounted retail price, earned Metacritic scores of 80/100 on PlayStation 3 and 79/100 on Xbox 360, sold approximately 600,000 units in its first two months, and eventually grew to 3 million units across five platforms. Along the way, a licensing dispute stripped it from digital storefronts in 2013, only for it to return in 2016 running at 1080p and 60 frames per second. To understand how all of that happened, you have to start with the ground shaking in Japan.

• 2. Born From Disaster

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  Producer Ryota Niitsuma and his team had plans for downloadable content after Fate of Two Worlds shipped. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami changed that. Staff health issues compounded the disruption, and the original schedule became unworkable. Rather than release piecemeal updates on an uncertain timetable, Niitsuma's team chose to bundle the planned DLC alongside rebalanced gameplay and entirely new content into a separate installment. According to Capcom, the makeup of the resulting game landed at roughly half-and-half between content originally intended as DLC and material created fresh for the standalone release. The announcement came at San Diego Comic-Con on the 20th of July 2011, less than five months before the game would ship. Capcom video game producer Yoshinori Ono then revealed at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show that a handheld edition was also coming, as a launch title for the PlayStation Vita.

• 3. Building the Roster

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  Twelve new playable fighters joined the original 36 from Fate of Two Worlds, bringing the total roster to 48. Choosing which characters to add was a negotiation. Seth Killian, a former community manager for Capcom, described how Marvel supplied a list of characters they wanted included, after which Capcom offered input on moveset possibilities until both sides reached a consensus. The two companies operated with different priorities. Marvel's selections, including Rocket Raccoon and Nova, were tied to cross-promotional plans for upcoming products. Capcom's decisions were guided by a desire for variety in the cast. The inclusion of Firebrand, for example, came from Capcom's interest in adding a monster-type character capable of fighting while airborne. Jill Valentine and Shuma-Gorath, the two characters previously sold as paid DLC for Fate of Two Worlds, remained available for download but were pulled from online stores in December 2013 when Capcom's licensing contracts with Marvel Comics appeared to expire; they were later restored in the 2016 re-releases.

• 4. Mechanics and Modes

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  X-Factor, the mechanic that temporarily boosts a character's damage output, speed, and health regeneration, carried over from Fate of Two Worlds with one meaningful change: players can now activate it while airborne, not just from the ground. The aerial exchange system also received adjustments; where before it was a way to keep pressure on an opponent, it now offers players a choice among three different outcomes on each exchange. Beyond those tweaks, the control scheme remained the same simplified three-button layout introduced in the original. New modes gave the game a wider range. Heroes and Heralds, available as a free download, let players collect more than 100 ability cards featuring characters from both the Marvel and Capcom universes, equip up to three at a time, and compete on factional teams. A separate Galactus Mode let players step into the role of the final boss himself and fight against AI-controlled opponents. Online play was improved through optimized netcode and a spectator mode that could accommodate up to six players watching a single match.

• 5. Costume Controversies and Cover Art

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  Pre-orders at GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy each carried different exclusive costume packs tied to the retailer. The Femme Fatale Pack went to GameStop buyers; Amazon offered the New Age of Heroes Costume Pack; Best Buy provided the Villains Costume Pack. A fourth pack, the Ancient Warriors Costume Pack featuring Arthur, Firebrand, Hulk, and Magneto, was scheduled for the 20th of December 2011. On December 19, Capcom pushed the release back to March 6 of the following year. The delay stemmed from controversy over Magneto's alternate costume. That costume, based on his appearance in Marvel's House of M series, bore enough visual resemblance to the attire of King Juan Carlos I of Spain that the design was ultimately removed from the pack. The game's packaging also reflected a dual creative vision. Capcom illustrator Shinkiro designed the front cover. Marvel Comics artist Mark Brooks designed the reverse, which depicted all twelve new characters in a comic book style. Both pieces were printed on a single reversible cover included in the entire first print run in North America.

• 6. Pulled, Then Revived

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  On the 13th of December 2013, Capcom announced that digital versions of the game and its DLC would leave online storefronts before the month was out. The stated reason was the apparent expiration of Capcom's licensing agreement with Marvel Comics. The game came down from the PlayStation Network on December 17 in North America and December 19 in Europe, and from Xbox Live Arcade on December 26. The deeper cause sat in a corporate decision. After Marvel was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2009, Disney chose not to renew Capcom's license when it elapsed, preferring to place Marvel characters inside its own self-published Disney Infinity series. Then in 2016, Disney cancelled Disney Infinity, stepped back from self-publishing, and moved to a licensing-only model. That opened the door for Capcom again. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 returned digitally on the 3rd of December 2016, for PlayStation 4, timed to coincide with the announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Digital versions for Windows and Xbox One followed on the 7th of March 2017. The returning editions included all previously released DLC, a gallery mode drawing from Marvel vs. Capcom: Official Complete Works, and full 1080p output at 60 frames per second. Physical copies for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, available for a limited time through GameStop and EB Games, came with updated cover art and an exclusive 10-page comic book featuring artwork by Sean Chen and Gerardo Sandoval.

• 7. Critical and Commercial Response

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  Reviewers found the game genuinely improved but split on whether the improvements justified a new purchase. G4's Daniel Maniago praised the "simple, yet deep gameplay" alongside the roster and online features. Maxwell McGee of GameSpot called Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 unquestionably the superior version and highlighted the series' "unique blend of structured insanity". The sharpest criticism focused on the absence of new game modes and other on-disc content beyond the expanded roster. Steven Hopper of IGN, while welcoming the new characters, found the price "a little hard to swallow" given the limited additions. Tim Turi of Game Informer warned that casual players who had already spent time with Fate of Two Worlds and were coming mainly for new characters would "likely be left wanting". The PlayStation Vita version drew its own category of praise. Martin Robinson of Eurogamer named it one of the Vita's "finer-looking launch games", though he criticized the touchscreen controls for falling short of the standard set by Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition. At the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences nominated Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for Fighting Game of the Year; Mortal Kombat took the award. In the United Kingdom, the game reached number 19 in the PlayStation 3 sales chart and number 24 for Xbox 360, and the sequel Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite arrived on the 19th of September 2017.