Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

Like its predecessors, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a 2D fighting game in which players compete against each other in tag team combat using characters from both the Marvel Comics and Capcom universes. Players must knock out the opposing team by repeatedly attacking the opponent and draining their health bar. Infinite features 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 use traditional call-in assist attacks from off-screen characters; instead, Infinite utilizes a "free-form" tag system, known as "Active Switch", which shares similarities with Marvel vs. Capcom 3's "Team Aerial Combo" system and Street Fighter X Tekken's "Switch Cancel" system. Players can immediately switch between their team members at any point, even while mid-air or during attack animations.

Death is visited by Jedah Dohma, who proposes an alliance to achieve equilibrium between life and death on both their worlds. Needing the six Infinity Stones to do so, Death deceives Thanos and Ultron into aiding her, granting Thanos the Space Stone and sending Ultron to retrieve the Reality Stone from Abel City. Sigma intercepts Ultron, and the two forge their own alliance. They betray the others and use the Space and Reality Stones to merge the two dimensions and fuse themselves into a single being named "Ultron Sigma".

To wipe out biological life, they begin unleashing an evolved form of the Sigma Virus that turns organic creatures into synthetic beings under their control. An alliance of heroes from both worlds is then formed. They manage to keep Ultron Sigma at a stalemate until they rescue Thanos from Ultron Sigma's prison and secure him in a containment field at Avengers Tower. To gain their trust, Thanos reveals the locations of the remaining four Infinity Stones, and teams of heroes are dispatched to find them.

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 Disney Infinity; this resulted in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom Origins being delisted 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 third-party game developers, including Capcom, to negotiate licenses with Marvel once again. The same year on December 3, 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. Norio Hirose, a programmer who had previously worked on X-Men vs.

In pre-release coverage, Infinite's departure from some of the series' long-standing gameplay mechanics, namely three-on-three battles and character assist moves, for the sake of accessibility was met with mixed reception. Suriel Vazquez of Game Informer and Wesley Yin-Poole of Eurogamer stated that Infinite could end up being a divisive game, especially to the hardcore audience, since both mechanics had defined the Marvel vs. Capcom series for nearly two decades. The issue was mirrored by IGN's Daniel Krupa, who mentioned that the shifts in the series' formula could lead to a feeling among fans that their game was being "diluted" for newer players.

Vazquez and Krupa, however, appreciated the changes, with Vazquez saying that he preferred the series "go for broke", rather than play it safe. GamesRadar's David Houghton and Kotaku's Ian Walker gave positive remarks in their impressions of the press preview build, with both praising the development team's attempt to create an accessible environment for newcomers while also pleasing the competitive community.

In May 2024, prominent fighting game community member and content creator Maximilian Dood, alongside artist and video game modder Ryn/WistfulHopes, spearheaded the development of a mod to overhaul the game's graphics. The mod, titled Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond, introduces a cel-shaded art style akin to Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Although the original intent of Beyond was to simply update the visuals, the scope of the project eventually expanded to include new art, music, modes, and balance changes, among other things. Over forty people contributed to the mod over its eight months in development; Maximilian estimated he spent roughly US$30,000 of his own money to pay everyone. Beyond was released online for free in December 2024.