It seems that the growth of fighting games I’ve spoken about before isn’t stopping anytime soon. Capcom recently announced that Street Fighter 6 passed 5 million in sales and there seems to be a new fighter on the horizon very frequently.

Two fighters in particular that were announced over the Summer Game Fest weekend. Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls (featured at Sony’s State of Play) and Invincible VS caught a lot of eyes for different reasons. In large part due to Arc System Works and Quarter Up – a new studio helmed by former Killer Instinct developers.

The fighting game community at large was excited about both announcements. But, details about Invincible VS left some divided as it was revealed that the game will forgo motion inputs to try and make the game more accessible, something that players are worried about becoming a trend since 2XKO is also doing this.

While alot of fighting game fans aren’t against accessibility per say, (I’m personally all for it) I think developers have to be careful with how they go about it. Alternative control schemes aren’t a new thing in fighters but in the past they were either horribly unbalanced such as the GameCube edition of Capcom vs SNK 2, or they’d be pretty weak such as the simple inputs seen in Marvel vs Capcom 3. I want to cover a few games that I think approached accessibility in fighters very well but also talk about the possible cons trying to chase it a bit too much can go.

Killer Instinct’s free-flowing combo system

So one reason Invincible VS had a lot of hype around it was due to Quarter Up being comprised of former Killer Instinct developers, a game held in very high regard within the fighting game community (FGC) due to laying down a foundation that a lot of modern fighters would follow going forward. Accessibility was one of the games strong points for sure, as while the game has motion inputs, they were far more lenient and more difficult motions such as 360 inputs were completely absent.

Another reason the game was more accessible was due to how combos flowed in Killer Instinct. As instead of focusing on tight links, the game featured a more freestyle combo system that I’ve compared to something akin to the Batman Arkham games. Almost every button a character has links into a combo starter. And instead of having to remember set routes, you could essentially do what route you wanted. Add in that the game featured a breaker system which allowed you to escape from being comboed to death – and to this day perhaps the best tutorial in a fighting game with the dojo mode – it made Killer Instinct a highly accessible fighter that still had a ton of depth to it.

I’m sure Quarter Up is capable of pulling off something great with Invincible VS because, I competed in Killer Instinct as my primary game for years and many people I met through it who became very good at the game said it was their first fighter. So hopefully the game is still given a fair chance even with the inputs being gone.

Street Fighter 6 competently handles 2 control schemes

Street Fighter 6 is probably the biggest fighting game at the moment. Although there’s a certain sect of players who are against it, one of the things that stood out was it’s approach to modern control schemes. The game lets you choose which control scheme you want to pick, the classic scheme which features a traditional input system that some do find intimidating; or a more streamlined modern system which allows for easy specials and a simplified button input system.

It was handled differently than past games. In other games the simple inputs would have access to everything which could lead to it feeling broken or they’d be severely gimped and cut off from using certain mechanics such as Marvel vs Capcom 3 and the recent Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Capcom made it so the modern input system is able to use the mechanics and has access to stronger combos for the most part, but at the cost of losing certain normals or specials for some characters.

This keeps the modern system from being unviable but also not too strong as well. In fact any competitor will tell you that the majority of the cast is better on classic. Capcom implemented it smartly and in Japan especially there are a number of modern players who are competing now, as well as some in other parts of the world. Some players will never like the input system for various reasons but all in all, I think Capcom implemented it very well and if devs want to look at implementing a modern control scheme, they should study Street Fighter 6.

Dragon Ball FighterZ teaches the basics with great presentation

Though I didn’t play the game much myself, I applauded Dragon Ball FighterZ for being a great entry level fighting game. Similar to Killer Instinct it did away with more complex inputs but went even further by making it so the only real motion people had to learn were quarter circles, often considered the easiest motions to learn overall.

On top of this, the game has some of the best presentation and most cool things happening on screen happening at once. It makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a battle from the anime with call backs to many of the show’s most iconic moments. By making the inputs not too complex but not removing execution completely and always giving them something awesome to look at, the game made a lot of people who may not have tried a fighter before by successfully capturing the spirit of one of the most popular franchises ever.

I’ve met of people through SF6 and other games who said DBFZ was the game that got them into the genre and say it did help them learn motion inputs at a base level. It makes me wonder if Arc Sys will go a similar route with Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls.

The potential cons

So while I’m personally all for accessibility, I think one potential con and a big one at that is by trying to simplify things too much to get people into fighting games, you risk alienating players who already love the genre if you focus too much on trying to reach people who don’t. Many players do feel a sense of accomplishment pulling off a more difficult combo route and while it’s possible to have simple inputs with higher execution such as Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, some may be too turned off as seen by some responses to Invincible VS’ lack of traditional inputs.

We’ve seen before how doing things to try and appeal to a wider audience can backfire as it sent franchises like Dead Space into a hiatus and recently Saints Row is a franchise in limbo after straying too far away from what people loved about the franchise.

While the more complicated inputs are a reason why some find fighters daunting to play, it’s not the only reason either why some won’t play them. You just need to make sure your game looks cool enough for enough people to try and make sure it’s content rich, which is a big reason why games like Street Fighter 6 and Dragon Ball FighterZ are as successful as they have been.

Another issue is it can possibly create an issue for the developers themselves as balancing around simpler control schemes. Street Fighter 6 for example has to be very careful about game balance as some characters could possibly be too strong on modern with certain tools, which also impacts how they have to look at a character on classic. Execution barrier can also help keep some characters from possibly being too strong, an example being Dante in the Marvel vs Capcom games. Dante was very good in Marvel 3 but being fairly difficult to use, while being made one of the most obnoxious fighting game characters in a modern game in the follow up when he was made very easy to play.

Final thoughts

I personally do think it’s great that developers are trying to make games more accessible and I’m glad more people seem to be playing fighting games more than they ever have both casually and on a competitive level. However I think developers going forward will have to be careful to not alienate the fanbase going forward as well. While Invincible VS is still one of my most anticipated games in 2026, I understand why many were bothered by the lack of motion inputs. I’ve even seen some who use modern inputs disagree with that direction.

It’s good to make it accessible but there will always be a large part of the audience who won’t have interest in the genre. It’s a difficult balancing act of keeping the core base happy while also making something that the more skeptical audience would want to try.

What’s your thoughts on accessibility in fighting games? Are you excited for Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls, or Invisible VS? Let us know in the comments below and stick with GSC for all your fighting game news.