Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (also referred to unofficially as Marvel vs. Capcom 4) is an upcoming fighting game in development by Capcom, planned for release on September 19, 2017 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. It is the sixth main entry in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of crossover games, and the ninth overall main entry in Capcom's Vs. series; the player controls characters from both Marvel Comics and Capcom in two-on-two battles.

Gameplay
Like its predecessors, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a fighting game in which players compete against each other in tag team combat using characters from both the Marvel Comics universe and Capcom's video game franchises. Infinite will feature two-on-two partner battles, similar to Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes and earlier installments in the franchise. Unlike past entries, the game does not allow players to call in assist attacks from off-screen team members; instead, Infinite utilizes a "free-form" combo system that allows characters to be immediately swapped to facilitate the stringing of combos, akin to Street Fighter X Tekken. Infinite will also implement a gameplay mechanic involving the Infinity Stones, similar to Marvel Super Heroes, where each stone grants unique abilities. For example, the Power Stone grants increased strength, while the Time Stone increases the player's maneuverability. Each player selects one Infinity Stone before the match begins, which grants one ability that can be activated at any time, and a second, stronger ability which has yet to be finalized. The game will also include a cinematic story mode; single-player modes, such as Training, Mission, and Arcade Mode; and online multiplayer with ranked and casual matches, global leaderboards, and online lobbies with spectating.

Playable characters
As with past installments, Infinite will feature both new and returning heroes and villains in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Additional characters will also be released post-launch as downloadable content (DLC). Returning characters have received various adjustments from their previous appearances, including new special moves, abilities, and Hyper Combos.

So far, on the Marvel side of the character roster, all of the Marvel characters confirmed for this game have appeared in or will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading to speculation that there may not by any X-Men or Fantastic Four characters in this game (in the previous game, the Fantastic Four themselves only made cameo appearances in other characters' endings, but three of their enemies, Doctor Doom, Super-Skrull, and Galactus, appeared in the game; the former two appearing as playable characters, and the latter third was the final boss of the game), due to an apparent feud between The Walt Disney Company and the Fox Broadcasting Company, the latter of which owns the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters on film and television. Considering that the Marvel vs. Capcom series originally started out as X-Men vs. Street Fighter, this may leave some long-time fans of the series fans disappointed.

New characters to the franchise are listed below in bold.

Story
Believing that all biological life must be purged, Ultron and Sigma forge an alliance. Using the power of the Space and Reality Infinity Stones, the two fuse themselves into a single being, "Ultron Sigma", and merge the worlds of Marvel and Capcom into a single dimension, one which they rule. As a result, the heroes and villains of both worlds must band together to defeat Ultron Sigma.

Development
Following the release of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the PlayStation Vita in 2012, Marvel's new parent company, The Walt Disney Company, which acquired Marvel in 2009, chose not to renew their licensing deal with Capcom, instead opting to move its viable properties towards their self-published game titles, such as the Disney Infinity series; this resulted in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes being removed from the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in 2013. However, in May 2016, Disney announced its decision to discontinue self-publishing efforts and switch over to a licensing-only model, allowing Capcom to renegotiate its license with Marvel. On December 3, 2016, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was officially unveiled during Sony's PlayStation Experience event; its first gameplay footage debuted on the same day following the conclusion of Capcom Cup 2016.

According to Mike Jones, Executive Producer at Marvel Games, Infinite was designed to be a "more elegant and simplified" game which remained as "complex and hardcore" as past Marvel vs. Capcom installments. The decision to change the three-on-three battle system used in the series' previous iteration was considered for a long time before ultimately settling on two-on-two fights for the sake of accessibility. Capcom's Director of Production, Michael Evans, wished to give casual Marvel vs. Capcom fans the ability to get into the game without being overwhelmed by introducing a more manageable two-character system. To offset the streamlined character select system and removal of call-in assist attacks, the six Infinity Stones were implemented to provide teams with additional customization options and increase gameplay depth. Marvel and Capcom compared the Infinity Stones to the "Groove System" used in Capcom vs. SNK 2. The primary goal with the Infinity Stones was to create a level playing field by acting as a comeback enabler, and allowing players to compensate for their characters' deficiencies and enhance their strong points. According to the game developers, the inclusion of the Infinity Stones and the theme of "infinite [gameplay] possibilities" influenced their decision to use Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite as the game's title, rather than Marvel vs. Capcom 4.

Beyond appealing to genre and series fans, Capcom sought to target a diverse audience with Infinite and bring in casual players who were fans of Marvel's movies, comic books, and television shows. To this end, the developers wanted to introduce a more robust, cinematic story compared to previous Marvel vs. Capcom titles. Bill Rosemann, Creative Director at Marvel Games, stated that Infinite's emphasis on storytelling was largely influenced by Marvel's story and character-centric approach to their recent projects in games, film, and television; Rosemann and Jones cited Insomniac Games' upcoming Spider-Man video game, Telltale Games' future Guardians of the Galaxy title, and Marvel's successful Netflix series as examples. Capcom also promised a larger variety of offline single-player and multiplayer content at launch. The promise for a "feature-rich" product appears to have resulted from experiences with Street Fighter V, which was criticized for its lack of content upon release. Frank Tieri, the lead writer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3, has also confirmed his involvement with Infinite.

Release
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is scheduled for released on September 19, 2017 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The game will be available in three editions: a standard edition, which features two pre-order costumes for Ryu and Thor; a Deluxe Edition, which features four pre-order costumes for Ryu, Thor, Hulk, and Mega Man X, as well as a season pass granting access to six DLC fighters; and a Collector's Edition, which includes the Deluxe Edition of the game, in addition to four character dioramas of Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Mega Man X, and Chun-Li by TriForce, and a case filled with six LED-powered Infinity Stone replicas.

Trailers

 * First teaser for Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite featuring Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Mega Man X, and Ryu
 * First extended gameplay trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite introducing Captain America and Morrigan
 * First story trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite introducing Hawkeye, Hulk, Rocket Raccoon, Thor, Ultron, Chris Redfield, Chun-Li, Sigma, and Strider Hiryu
 * Second gameplay trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite showing Chun-Li, Hulk, Strider Hiryu, Thor, Hawkeye, Chris Redfield, and Ultron in action