Kabam it’s April 2026. Why is the AI still broken? Like what are we actually doing here?

I made a post about this back in August 2025. We’re now 8 months on, and honestly nothing has changed at all. If anything, it feels like it’s getting worse every damn update.

You guys admitted yourselves the AI reacts too fast. That was over a year ago now. Then we got infamous the AI 2.0 deep dive, which sounded promising at the time, but as per usual amounted to nothing tangible and we’re still dealing with the exact same issues.

The AI is not playing by the same rules as us.

I’m still getting:
* Light intercepted out of nowhere like I’m fighting MSD
* Walk up light intercepts
* Ai magically sliding/teleporting across the screen and hitting you in the face
* Backdrafts punished instantly
* Specials blocked or punished mid/after combo
* Ai skipping frames or animations
* Ai throwing specials before even getting up off the floor
* Ai flat out refusing to throw specials until it suits (usually conveniently when all stings/debuffs have fallen off) or when I’m backed into a corner and they then get to SP3
* Perfectly timed special intercepts the moment I try to tap their block to prompt a special
* Ai reacting so fast I can’t even punish a perfectly dexed special anymore
* Ai blocking mid combo or between complete MLLM,MLLL > special causing it to be blocked and hit in the face

Along with many other lovely forms of (to quote Seatin) “absolute cinema.”

And let’s just call it what it is now, this isn’t “challenging AI” it’s just flat out broken and borderline unplayable.

It’s a system with “frame perfect reactions” and zero human limitations.

You’ve literally described it yourselves as a “frame perfect button masher”. At 60fps, that means it can react every 16.7ms. Humans sit around 200ms on a good day. - That means by your own admission the ai reacts 12x faster than we can?! Why?!

Meanwhile the AI also isn’t bound by ANY form of animation lockouts like we are, hence why they can throw specials without even getting up anymore, or perfectly punish me if a special is blocked- but I can’t punish a perfectly dexed special anymore?! Why?!

That’s not actual difficulty, that’s a built-in rigged advantage the player can never overcome.

And that little “frame perfect” nugget that you accidentally gave to us is the root cause of most of the problems.

Right now, fights don’t feel like:
“I made a mistake”

They feel like:
“I wasn’t allowed to act” or “I feel cheated out of a fair fight”

That’s why people are burning out. That’s why endgame content feels like a revive fest and people can’t be bothered even attempting it at the moment. That’s why even experienced players are getting fed up.

So here’s a mad solution:

Why is there still no human like reaction limiter on the AI?

Every single other serious fighting game does this. Not because they can’t make perfect AI, but because frame perfect reactions are not fun to fight against and make for an absolutely abysmal playing experience.

A simple delay (even in the 150–200ms range) would instantly make fights feel more human, more readable, and more fair.

No one is asking for easy content, nodes already give the Ai huge advantages. All were asking for fair rules.

Right now, the AI can:
* React faster than any human
* Ignore normal interaction windows or animation lockouts
* Punish things we physically cannot punish back

That is NOT a level playing field.

AI 2.0 adding memory and behaviour is fine, but if it still has perfect reactions all you’ve done is create a smarter opponent that STILL isn’t bound by the same roles the player is.

That’s not progress, that’s just a different flavour of the same problem.

And honestly, this is where the frustration is coming from now because you keep building around a broken foundation.

New modes, new chase champs, new monetisation and new after new sale, but the core experience of actually fighting the AI (in a fighting game) still feels unfair and unenjoyable.

Fix that, and everything else improves with it.

Ignore it and it doesn’t matter how many shiny things you add, people will keep burning out.

What with the ascension backlash, Twitch drops controversy causing big creators to question their future with the game or downright quit altogether and others just bowing out permanently (Brian Grant, Trappy etc) the game is NOT in a good state right now.

It’s been over a year since you first acknowledged the issue.

So I’ll ask it plainly:

When can we expect this AI2.0 to drop and can you give us some clear timeframes?

Are you actually going to make the AI play by the same rules as the player, or not?

I hope you can shed some light on this kabam, because we’re all dying for an update.

Thanks 👍🏽

Comments

ContestOfNoobs

i swear some of the a.i is the the smartest i seen.

Everytime i am in bg’s its like a.i punishing me every time.

Constantly being passive and constantly intercepting me and doing specials when i dash in.

Agent_T

it is extremely frustrating. Especially the throwing specials while still recovering and the light intercept while walking up to you. I’m no where near the best player. I hardly even consider myself a good player but I know forsure I’m not a bad player and the current AI makes me feel just like that. Reading me like I’m a book.

Syndicated

The best part is Kabam saying: "AI is just a button Smasher"

This "button Smasher" is really, really insane lol

Rafikii

I also wanna add, the AI manipulation we do have access to, doesn't feel like it works.

I'd say it's even worse than doesn't work. I r5'd my Luma because i love this champ, but I can't tell ya how often, just this week, i'm holding heavy, and the AI stays passive until the heavy just about releases, and they hit me right at release. They're supposed to be more aggressive with the evade charge active. And to basically intercept the first hit of my fast, multi-hitting heavy, it's insane and it feels really bad.

JESUSCHRIST

The AI is different with every update, it's getting faster and quicker

I got special in the face after dodging AI heavy and I went in to punish the heavy with perfect timing but AI recover so fast after its heavy, it's ridiculous by now

This 1 frame recovery and reaction is a joke TBH

Fit_Fun9329

fixing would mean completely rebuild the mcoc fighting engine, I assume. It’ll never be fixed

JESUSCHRIST

Even AI on other fighting games I play are evolving over time, becoming more difficult than previously with every update

Don't expect any fighting game to become easier, it's basically unrealistic expectation

Average_Desi

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2946329#Comment_2946329

Mash. Not smash

CrashOut

Doubt you'll get a response @ST4RL0RD08 they tend to ignore the posts they don't want to reply to

ST4RL0RD08

Thanks for all the responses so far, I genuinely appreciate people sharing a multitude of echoed experiences.

What stands out straight away is that it’s not just one specific issue or one type of player, it’s multiple people describing very similar interactions across the game:

•AI punishing things with perfect timing
•Specials being thrown in ways that don’t feel consistent
•Recovery windows feeling off
•AI behaviour not lining up with how we expect it to react (as a whole but also with biases too) which doesn’t allow certain champs to function properly anymore (Lumatrix & Titania to name a couple.)

That’s really the core of what I’m getting at.

It’s not about the AI being “too hard,” I don’t think anyone here is asking for easier fights. I personally enjoy difficulty and played games like God of War and Witcher 3 on their hardest difficulties for my play throughs.

It’s that the AI feels inconsistent and, at times, very evidently looks like it’s operating under different constraints than we are.

When that happens, fights stop feeling like: “I made a mistake”.

and start feeling like:

“I wasn’t allowed to respond properly” or “that didn’t feel fair.”

That’s where all the player frustration comes from. If the AI played by the same rules but was just difficult, that would be completely fine. But when it feels like it can react faster, recover faster, or behave in ways we can’t possibly replicate, it creates a huge disconnect.

That’s the part I think needs promptly addressing. I mean how can MCOC be one of the most popular fighting games on the app store and still not function properly?

ST4RL0RD08

@JESUSCHRIST I get what you’re saying, difficulty creep over time in games is normal, I don’t think anyone’s expecting the game to get easier. But nodes already add that difficulty increase so I feel this is a separate issue.

I can’t say I’ve had the same experience with evolving AI in other fighting games though. I agree some have definitely become more complex or refined over time, but they still feel like they’re operating within the same rules as the player.

That’s the difference here.

In MCOC, the difficulty at the moment often feels like it’s coming from things like reaction speed, recovery windows, and inconsistent behaviour that we can’t possibly replicate ourselves and that’s where it starts to feel off. Which actually lines up with what you mentioned in your earlier comment.

Given this is a game that generates huge revenue and has now branched onto PC, putting it in the same space as titles like Street Fighter or Tekken, I don’t think it’s unrealistic to expect the AI to feel consistent and fair in how it behaves.

Those games can have extremely difficult AI, but it still feels readable and grounded in the same rules as the players.

That’s all players are really asking for here; not easier fights, just a fair and consistent playing field.

ItsClobberinTime

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2946352#Comment_2946352

Congrats, you have figured out why nodes exist in mcoc, AI being **** is a different situation.

Little_Crocodili29

The AI parrying mid specials is a new, and very frustrating, thing happening to me lately.

VanillaCoke

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2946367#Comment_2946367

be careful. @DNA3000 thinks you should continue adding nodes that are AI reliant or something to that effect

ST4RL0RD08

That’s literally an example of it being able to make decisions every single frame. Every 16.7ms.

We can’t even process information that fast let alone physically replicate that as humans, it’s 12x faster than us.