Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Gets Surprise Steam Update, Breaks Dark Phoenix
Uh oh.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is widely regarded as one of the best fighting games ever made, but it has largely been left behind in the modern era, lacking features like crossplay and rollback netcode, with no signs of ongoing support from CAPCOM.
Today, CAPCOM pushed out a surprise update for the PC version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on Steam to improve Windows 11 compatibility and fix unspecified bugs. However, it appears to have introduced a few notable issues in the process.
Problems After the June 15, 2026 Update
The small 12 MB update for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is fairly light on patch notes and only lists two changes:
- Verified compatibility with Windows 11
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
The patch notes don’t explain what those “miscellaneous bug fixes” include, but the SteamDB changelog has more detail, pointing to added support for Ogg and Vorbis audio formats as well as modifications to three files, including the main executable.
As a result, mods that rely on the previous executable are now broken and will need to be updated by their respective authors. This is fairly common for older PC titles, where even small changes to the game executable can cause compatibility issues with existing mods.
However, more noticeable and concerning issues appear to affect gameplay. Several active players in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 community have reported that Phoenix (Jean Grey) can no longer activate Dark Phoenix mode during matches.
This is a core mechanic of the character, and it appears to no longer trigger even outside of practice mode. The inability to enter Dark Phoenix mode was not intended behavior and appears to be a bug introduced by the update. A few other players on X have also reported additional gameplay changes, including the inability to perform a Kubota escape (which, to be fair, is a bug).
Some of these gameplay bugs are clearly unintentional, and a hotfix should be able to address them. The fact that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 received an update at all is pretty surprising, but it likely ties into broader Windows 11 compatibility adjustments seen in other older CAPCOM titles. The last time UMvC3 was updated was back in 2017.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is still one of the most beloved fighting games of all time, and a modern remaster with features like rollback netcode and crossplay could bring it back into the spotlight for a new generation of fighting game players.
It still has an incredible roster of fun characters, an excellent stylized presentation, and a host of neat mechanics that don’t feel outdated in the slightest. CAPCOM has already bundled several previous releases in the series into modern collections, and I really hope that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is the next one to get the remaster treatment.
