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Rematch

For the love of Ibrahimovic, Rematch players, learn to pass before I become the very thing I hate

by admin June 25, 2025

I feel like I’ve finally found a competitive online game that I enjoy and can’t stop thinking about. Rematch, Sloclap’s 3/4/5-a-side football game, is what Rocket League would have been based on if the world made any sense. It’s not, which has resulted in a bizarre situation where you have to describe Rematch as Rocket League with people instead of cars… so, just football, then. Anyway, I love it. In fact I love it despite the fact that a large portion of the player base is the absolute worst kind of person: a ball hog.

Rematch

Publisher: Sloclap, Kepler Interactive
Developer: Sloclap
Platform: Played on PS5 Pro
Availability: Out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.

Rematch isn’t an easy game to get to grips with. Unlike most football games, where passing and shooting feels guided to ensure you get that sense of being a professional, in Rematch it’s incredibly easy to fluff things so sensationally you can’t help but laugh. Fail to swivel fast enough before taking a snap shot and you’ll fire the ball into the side wall: embarrassing! Point the left stick (if you’re playing with a controller) slightly skewwhiff while passing and that dream through-ball you imagined ends up setting up a counter attack in the opposite direction: face palm! Get a little ahead of yourself in goal and you’ll dive in completely the wrong direction of the incoming shot: sorry!

This is to say, I understand that people will make mistakes in Rematch. I make plenty of them. Learning while playing is part of the game, especially as the training isn’t the best at the moment. What I don’t understand is how many people are playing this and completely failing to grasp the very basics of football. Please, if you are reading this and are playing or plan to play Rematch, pass the ball. If you’re playing in goal, read that request again, and again. Pass the ball.

The football snob in me is starting to creep out, now, like a snail who thought that drop of rain was enough of a reason to make a dash onto the baking-hot pavement. I know it’s ill-advised, but I can’t help it. If I was playing on PC or Xbox where a large portion of the player base is likely to be giving Rematch a whirl via Game Pass, I’d be thinking along the lines that a lot of these people (perfectly nice people, I’m sure, but football morons, to be blunt) don’t really have much of an idea of what football is and just saw it in the latest additions and fired it up. Fair enough. But I’m playing on PlayStation where people paid at least £20 to play this. I say “play” but no one watching the calamities I’ve witnessed would dare to suggest this is football being played. Bungled, sure. Masacred, if you’re being even more dramatic.

See this? This is a ball. Kick it to other players on your team. | Image credit: Sloclap/Kepler Interactive

It’s become a bit of a joke amongst the burgeoning community that all you hear during games is people spamming the “give me the ball” button. “Pass it,” “square it,” “back post,” and so on, endlessly. I hate it, but I understand it. A lot of players simply refuse to pass the ball. I’m endlessly making myself open to receive the ball from the goalkeeper, only for said keeper to attempt an overhead flick over the oncoming attacker. Nine times out of 10 this fails, and the opposition scores into an open goal. If it doesn’t fail, nine times out of 10 the next attacker will leap onto the goalie and dispossess them, scoring into an open goal. If this doesn’t fail, and the goalie is now over the half-way line, they’ll continue to refuse a pass, often opting to shoot from way too far out, the sensibly placed goalkeeper saving effortlessly. Unless someone has decided to fill the void left behind this galavanting nincompoop, guess what? Correct! The goalie with the ball in their hands now simply has to shoot straight down the pitch to score into an open goal.

Good job, everyone. Good job! This is where things have started to become a little unpleasant. During my initial days with Rematch I’d use the pre-set quick-messages like the lovely person I am. “Sorry” I’d say shamefully as I missed an open goal. “We’ve got this” I’d yell as the team took a commanding 2-0 lead. “Good job!” I’d say, happy to acknowledge a lovely bit of play from a teammate. Well, things are starting to sour on that front, and I’m not happy about it.

You can tell this person isn’t going to pass the ball. No chance. | Image credit: Sloclap/Kepler Interactive

“Good job” has, for many players, become a contronym. Yes, it at times does mean exactly as you’d think, a congratulations to someone who has done something worthy of praise. But, shamefully, I and others are now using “Good job” when the goalkeeper thinks they can dribble the length of the pitch. “Good job” I instinctively jab on the controller quick-select button. Real “Good job” you absolute cretin! I’m not proud of myself, OK.

Football has always brought out the worst in me. I will quietly watch my beloved Spurs, raising a semi-clenched fist occasionally but not with too much emotion just in case celebrations are cut short by a VAR decision, but you wouldn’t believe the words I’m muttering in my mind – truly shocking stuff. “Good job” is just the tip of the iceberg. Funnily enough, a lot of this also stems from wanting people to “pass the ball!”

Thankfully I’m starting to see things improving in ranked matches, where the general play is far more team-focused than in quick matches. I hope there’s some way Sloclap can start to reward team players a bit more, though. Currently it’s far too easy for a complete chancer to score way more points in a game than a solid team-first workhorse. If this can be changed we might see less moments of complete idiocy.

A copy of Rematch on PS5 was provided by the publisher.

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June 25, 2025 0 comments

Rematch screen - two kneeling soccer players celebrating a goal as other teammates run in behind them

Gaming Gear

Rematch review | PC Gamer

by admin June 23, 2025

Need to know

What is it? A 5v5 competitive football game from the team behind Sifu
Release date: Out now
Expect to pay: $30/£21
Developer: Sloclap
Publisher: Sloclap, Kepler Interactive
Reviewed on: Windows 11, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, Intel Core i7 12700F, 16 GB RAM
Steam Deck: Playable
Link: Official site

There’s a lot going on in a 5v5 game of virtual football, but the thing I have to keep reminding myself to do is breathe. It’s easy to forget when you’re playing goalie a minute-and-a-half into overtime and three opponents are trading the ball in front of your net as they gear up for shot, but you’ll need a lungful of air so you can rejoice or curse in a way the neighbors can hear when you make or don’t make the big save. I’ve rarely thought of a sports game as immersive, but here I can practically feel the sonic boom of the crowd, the ball rocketing past a sliding tackle, and the turf whizzing by as I kick it up.

That’s because Rematch—aka Rocket League with feet instead of wheels—is as intense an arcade sports game as I’ve played in a long time, nailing that tightrope walk between depth and immediacy I associate with sports game greats like Super Mega Baseball and Daytona USA. It’s an arcadey, stylized take on soccer that trims fat like foul play and penalty cards to home in on the core of dribbling, shooting, passing, and intercepts.

The standout feature is that, unlike genre goliath FIFA (now EA Sports FC), each player controls a single team member in third person, dynamically trading roles like goalkeeper and striker as they move around the pitch.

Developer Sloclap had already proved it could build a skill-expressive, weighty brawler with Sifu and Absolver, but despite the absence of fist fights, the studio’s take on the biggest sport in the world doesn’t feel like a left turn. Instead, it feels like a culmination of those games’ successes.

Sure, you’re pushing a ball around, curving shots past a goalie, and lobbing overhead passes instead of kicking any teeth in, but every win in Rematch is a hard-fought wellspring of adrenaline on par with any blockbuster beat ’em up.

(Image credit: Sloclap)

Making the dream work

You’re not the main character. Competitive games tend to offer a decent trick of the light, though: Going 20-0 as a safelane carry in Dota or obliterating half the lobby in Fortnite will stoke even the merest of smoldering egos. Rematch stamps out such flights of fancy beneath a fresh pair of cleats.

Shots will rarely go in the goal without some misdirection, ball hogs are always vulnerable to coordinated steals, and any one-sided stomps are called off with a swift mercy rule. It’s a PvP game, sure, but I like to think of it as a contest of co-op; a stack of excellent, selfish players will rarely beat out a competent, organized team. Whenever I put a point on the board, it was a rush—but I could never take sole credit.

In the heat of a game, this means constantly surveying the field for open teammates to lob a pass at and open opponents to mark or tackle. There’s a smorgasbord of context-sensitive inputs to mind at any given moment; with the ball, you can send a grounded pass in any direction, lob it just the same, rainbow flick the ball over your own head, push it past defenders, lightly tap it over their heads, assume a defensive stance to dash from side to side, and so on.

(Image credit: Sloclap)

It feels as though the tactics and mind games are rich enough to last hundreds of hours.

There’s a similar menu of choices when playing goalie or roaming without the ball: Do I go for a quick steal or the slower, more powerful sliding tackle? Each teammate in earshot calling for a pass multiplies your options tenfold. What results is a delicious hotbed of head games where intuition is just as critical as aim and execution. A lot of games promise action that’s “easy to learn, hard to master,” but Rematch has the goods.

Sure, you can take a blind shot past the goalie and hope they don’t react in time… or you could bound the ball off the back wall, square it to the nearest teammate, or lightly tap the ball to delay your shot just enough to trip up the defense.

It didn’t take long to get a firm handle on Rematch’s controls—there’s no simulation aspect to wrangle and no player attributes to complicate things—but after spending about a week with it, it feels as though the tactics and mind games are rich enough to last hundreds of hours. Maybe there’s a reason people are so taken with the real-life version of this.

(Image credit: Sloclap)

A Messi situation

Rematch’s action is tight as I could have hoped for, but the overall package could use some building out and spit shining.

There’s nothing to do outside of competitive multiplayer and solo practice, and given the game’s acute emphasis on teamplay, the solo queue experience might frustrate anyone hoping to channel a football obsession in a more relaxed setting. Tournaments or some sort of relaxed mode would go a long way, and those things are apparently coming soon.

There’s also no way to instantly requeue with a matchmade team—to rematch, in other words—which prematurely ends those moments where you feel remarkably in tune with new teammates.

The bigger issues could be chalked up to launch woes, but it still bears mentioning that bugs and server desync are all over this game, at least for now. While the most pressing issues have been dealt with (like a bug that caused the ball to turn into an immobile stone), I still find that sliding tackles occasionally sail through me or my target harmlessly, and that a goalie might catch the ball only for it to teleport into the net moments later. These problems are uncommon enough that I don’t consider them a grave blemish, but they can still undercut the integrity of everything at crucial, match-defining moments.

(Image credit: Sloclap)

Its love of the sport is infectious.

The overall presentation is fantastic, though. I love the way the skybox shuffles between stadiums and space stations, the thrill of weaving through a watertight defense, and the vindicating flood of ‘Good job!’ and ‘We got this!’ pings that follow a well-aimed goal.

There’s a timeless quality about Rematch. Where other sports videogames tailor their lineups to the latest rosters, laboriously recreate the broadcast spectacle, and plaster their boxes with licensed likenesses, Rematch is more enamored with the strategies and skillsets that make football tick than with football as a fixture of pop culture.

Its love of the sport is infectious, with a nearly pick-up-and-play setup that could suck anyone into a ‘one more game’ loop, whether or not they care about UEFA politics or Man United’s latest transfer news. It’s hard to imagine not getting swept up in the hype, whether you watch the World Cup religiously or have never seen a game.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

7 Rematch tips to help you hone your football skills

by admin June 23, 2025

Sloclap’s hotly anticipated football ’em up has finally hit the pitch, and it’s proving to be as nuanced as it is popular. You can queue up for a match only minutes after booting it up for the first time, but after playing a lot of Rematch myself, I highly recommend first getting a sense for its fast pace and slew of keybinds far away from any peeved teammates spamming the ‘Good job!’ emote.

If you’re serious about sharpening your football skills, you should also check out our guide to how Rematch ranks work before you start trying to work your way up through the leagues. Now then: Here are a few tips to chew on for your first few matches and beyond.

Make use of workshops and free play

Rematch kicks off with a very brief prologue that speedily reviews all the controls, and you might confuse that for the whole tutorial. It’s definitely not. There are actually a lot of learning resources tucked in the main menu. On top of a longer, more involved tutorial, there are several workshops—small minigames that give your mechanics a rigorous test—that helped me adjust to the game’s unique control scheme. It’s easy to understand dribbling past a defender in theory, but having to keep the ball away from a few bots in a small arena will ensure you know the timing in a practical setting.

Free play, on the other hand, is a great way to test various sensitivity settings, key binds, and input methods without the chaos of all that footballing. If you haven’t tried out both, it’s worth seeing if you’re more comfortable with a mouse and keyboard or a gamepad.

Misdirection is key to scoring a goal

(Image credit: Sloclap)

It’s a cliché at this point, but Rematch isn’t won by flashy plays from all-star MVPs. When you’re taking a straight shot at the goal, the defender has every advantage: not only do goalies get infinite stamina, they’ll also have plenty of time to react to any but the cheekiest of shots. With that in mind, look for your teammates as you approach the goal. If any of them are open or asking for the ball, it’s often prudent to trust them with the shot. Even if their shot isn’t perfect, getting the drop on the goalie may give them the edge.

To further make defenders’ lives hell, you can use the invisible walls around the field to pass and pressure the goalkeeper. Be sure as well to shape all your shots with the mouse or left stick to give it a misleading arc.

Use the rainbow flick sparingly

(Image credit: Sloclap)

If you aren’t aware, pressing A with the right bumper (or just hitting C on the keyboard) will perform a rainbow flick, sending the ball with your heel into an overhead arch. It’s a tricksy motion that can trip up anyone trying to steal or even delay your shot enough to fool a goalie, but it also leaves your ball highly vulnerable to anyone who sees it coming. Because it trips up new players, it’s easy to lean on it as a crutch; once you become predictable, opponents will be waiting to intercept your ball out of the air.

Any given technique has a counter, so mix it up and keep opponents on their toes. It’s not exactly rock paper scissors, but mind games go a long way in Rematch.

Pass, pass, and pass again

(Image credit: Sloclap)

Whenever your team has possession of the ball, defenders will be trying to control space and steal. The longer the ball is with a single player, the more time your opponents have to close gaps in their defense and block incoming shots. The nimbler your team is with the ball, the harder it will be to anticipate where it’s headed next; and a player will never move on their feet faster than the ball can sail through the air. Think of players more like nodes where the ball can be possessed rather than vehicles to get the ball to the goal all on their own.

Part of this is being ready to receive; it’s a tight timing window, so be ready to hit the “push ball” key to make sure you’ve got a hold of it. When you’re the one passing, don’t forget you can lob the ball overhead or even pass behind you without turning around. It’s usually better to make a safe pass toward your own goal than to risk a turnover.

Communication wins games

(Image credit: Sloclap)

Even if you forego the circus that is voice chat in a competitive online game, there are plenty of ways to talk to your team. The most crucial of these is performed with a click of the right stick (or middle mouse), which will cause you to call out and ask for a pass. So long as you aren’t hammering the button, it’s a great way to let whoever’s got the ball know who’s open. Trying to dribble past a pack of defenders is chaotic and distracting, so a timely ball call can inject some necessary clarity.

If you’re trying to climb to Elite rank, enabling voice chat will probably go a long way in establishing good rapport with your pubs. With that said, the ball call will take you very far in the heat of a match.

(Image credit: Sloclap)

Players in Rematch can jog, sprint, or use an “extra effort” sprint. Regular sprinting drains your stamina, but extra effort uses a smaller, separate resource that’s crucial to keep in mind. It might be tempting to go for it anytime you need to close distance, but it telegraphs the period right after where you’ll be slower than anyone with extra effort readily available.

It also empowers your shots and passes, so don’t be afraid to save it for when you need to mark a wide-open opponent or you’re taking a desperate shot at the goal. Just be wary that when extra effort sprinting with the ball in your possession, you push it farther in front of you than normal, so don’t lose hold of it or let anyone swoop in for a turnover.

Practice in 3v3 and 4v4

(Image credit: Sloclap)

If you want to climb the ranks, you’ll be spending all your time in 5v5. It’s the most intense and elaborate mode, so that tracks; but because there are nine other players, your individual agency in the match is diluted. If you want to improve your passing, scoring, and defense all in a single match, 3s and 4s will shove you into the spotlight more often and give your mechanics a rigorous stress test. Once you’re more confident in your muscle memory, it’ll be easier to focus on tactics and positioning in 5v5.

If you haven’t gotten your cleats dirty yet, you can buy Rematch on Steam.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Rematch Review – Unbelievable Tekkers

by admin June 23, 2025

After cutting its teeth on melee combat and kung fu action with Absolver and Sifu, I don’t think anyone expected Slocap’s next game to be an arcadey alternative to EA Sports FC. But that’s precisely what the French developer has crafted with Rematch: a football game that embodies the spirit and chaotic energy of having a kick-about with friends. From the wayward passes and the goalkeeper who decides he’s now a striker, to someone popping up with an incredible goal out of absolutely nowhere, Rematch constantly reminded me of my childhood and the countless hours spent playing football. When I was at school, I would forego food just so I could play for the entire hour-long lunchtime; when I was off school, I would inevitably get together with friends and head down to the local park, using jumpers as makeshift goalposts. Other games have done this kind of five-a-side style of football before, but none have come as close as Rematch does to capturing the essence of my footballing heyday.

Rather than taking control of an entire team, Rematch puts you in the boots of a single player in 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 matches. There’s a short prologue and some training minigames to play on your own, but beyond this you’re always playing with and against other human players. Each match lasts six minutes, and there’s a mercy rule that immediately ends the game after one team has taken a four-goal lead (I guess Slocap never saw Newcastle vs. Arsenal circa 2011). The only stoppages occur when a team scores; otherwise, Rematch plays fast and loose with the rules. There are no fouls, offsides, or handballs, and throw-ins, corners, and goal kicks are nonexistent due to the pitch being surrounded on all four sides by giant transparent walls. This quickly establishes a chaotic pace. Sometimes it’s messy, while other times you feel like Messi. There’s also no progression or skill points to help improve your player’s attributes. Everyone is on a level playing field, so only the most skillful will rise to the top.

Gallery

There’s a fairly steep learning curve to overcome in Rematch. Part of this derives from its tactile, physics-based design, which, among other things, prevents the ball from sticking to your feet when sprinting down the field. Another part is related to the game’s perspective. In EA Sports FC, for instance, there’s a camera option that follows closely behind your player in either Pro Clubs or its player career mode. I’ve never known anyone to actually use this view, though, as being able to see the full pitch from the classic sideline angle is much more effective. Rematch doesn’t give you this option. You have full camera control, similar to most third-person games, but it’s always positioned just behind your player, placing you directly in the thick of the action. The presence of a mini-map ensures that you don’t need to have your head on a swivel like a Premier League midfielder, but it’s still an uncommon way of playing a football game. Couple this with an enclosed playing field and futuristic stadiums, and there’s more than a little Rocket League about Rematch. If Rocket League is football with cars, then Rematch is Rocket League without them.

Like football, it’s a relatively simple game, but one that’s incredibly difficult to master. Even if you’re a veteran of games like EA FC and Pro Evolution Soccer, Rematch’s control scheme takes some getting used to, as it breaks from the familiarity other games have codified over the past 20 years or so. Just look at shooting as a prime example. In order to get off a shot, you need to pull the right trigger while aiming a reticle with the right stick–something more akin to firing a gun than kicking a football. If you’re waiting to receive a pass or a cross, your natural inclination is to watch the ball, but hitting the target requires you to turn your player’s head and aim directly at the goal. If you’re looking at where the ball is coming from, you’ll simply hit it back in that direction. Fortunately, there are indicators that make shooting without looking at the ball possible, and it also feels intuitive to consider your positioning to ensure you can see both the ball and the goal when preparing for a shot. It’s something that takes time to adjust to, but is all the more rewarding once you start scoring with some regularity. Plus, some of the outrageous volleys you can score look like they were pulled right out of Shaolin Soccer.

Passing isn’t quite as tough thanks to a slight hint of aim assist, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be pinging the ball around like you would in EA FC without a degree of prowess. There’s still skill involved in applying just the right amount of power to thread a through ball to one of your teammates, just as careless aiming will result in plenty of misplaced passes and angry teammates. However, sometimes accuracy isn’t needed. The walls surrounding the pitch give you the option to potentially deflect the ball to a teammate or even set yourself up for a shot. Nothing befuddles the defence and goalkeeper more than an intentionally mishit shot that rebounds back to you for a surprise volley. Slick passing moves are still the most satisfying to pull off, but trick shots aren’t too far behind. I just wish there were an in-game way to save or rewatch replays.

Alternatively, you can also dig into a repertoire of skill moves to try and bypass defenses with some Brazilian flair. Whether you’re rolling the ball to one side to sidestep a slide tackle or using a rainbow flick to knock the ball past a hapless defender, these moves are flashy and can be effective… in the right circumstances. A successful rainbow flick might give you breathing room from a single opposition player, but it also slows you down enough that another is probably right on top of you. There’s a time and a place for skill moves, but this isn’t something everyone understands. As such, one of the most significant detriments to your enjoyment of Rematch will be the people you’re playing with.

This isn’t uncommon in team-based multiplayer games, but at least early on, Rematch is full of people who think they’re the hero. To be clear, I’m not completely innocent in all of this. Just like in my school days, there are times when I think I’m Thierry Henry and not an oaf who’s better suited playing closer to his own goal. But my occasional one-man crusades aren’t nearly as bad as the players who refuse to pass at all costs, shoot from the halfway line with no hope of scoring, and completely abandon their goalkeeping duties altogether.

There are no set goalkeepers in Rematch. A new player is cycled into the role each time a team scores, but it also utilizes “rush ‘keepers,” so you can swap goalkeepers at any time. Cycling through players is a solid idea as it ensures that no one player is stuck in goal for an entire match, but I’ve also lost count of the amount of times my team has conceded because the keeper decided to run up the pitch or started trying skill moves just outside their own box. The hope is that this kind of ball- and glory-hogging will fade away over time. I’ve already seen much less of it in ranked matches (which you can play after accumulating enough XP to reach level five), so the early signs are encouraging. Playing with friends is obviously still the best option, although cross-play’s delay makes this more difficult than it should be. It’s also a shame there isn’t an option to party up if you manage to find a match with good teammates via the game’s matchmaking.

I’m much more sympathetic to goalkeepers who concede while at least attempting to keep a clean sheet. Successfully getting your hand on a shot feels like a crapshoot at times. There’s no way to control your dive, other than choosing which direction you’ll go, and even then you’ll inexplicably dive the opposite way on occasion. The ball also has a habit of tricking underneath your flailing body or sailing over your head, giving goalkeeping a more luck-based feeling than anything else. Sometimes you’ll make a bunch of saves, other times you’ll completely miss shots you think you should’ve reached. It can be disheartening.

Defending is in a similar state due to Rematch’s wonky netcode. There are times when you’ll attempt to make a tackle and phase through your opponent, or successfully win the ball back, only to see it teleport straight back to the opposition’s feet. When it works, tackles feel suitably crunchy, but lag and desync issues are a hindrance. Slocap has already fixed a few issues, so it seems like it’s on top of things, though that hasn’t prevented me from entering matches with uneven teams or experiencing the odd crash to desktop on PC. It also needs some kind of reporting function to penalize intentional griefers, otherwise it’s far too easy to ruin a match for everyone without any repercussions.

Gallery

There’s also the matter of longevity. Slocap has already announced new features coming in the future, including a tournament system for ranked games and new quick-play game modes. Obviously, it’s impossible to judge these additions at this point, but the current hook of leveling up your rank to unlock cosmetics in a battle pass isn’t particularly engaging. Whether it’s a new tattoo, hairstyle, or jacket to wear, the cosmetics look good, and the game’s painterly art style is gorgeous, but it’s difficult to overlook the fact that it just wants more of your money. Alongside a premium battle pass, individual cosmetics are also available for purchase, including a Ronaldinho skin at launch. Presumably, more players will be added over time, but it’s a FOMO approach to microtransactions that feels just as gross here as it does in other games.

With missing features, server issues, and some gameplay quirks that need to be ironed out, in many ways, Rematch feels like an early-access game. Its foundation is strong, though, capturing the chaotic energy of playing football with your school pals. It’s disorganised at times, and the people you’re playing with might be frustrating, but there are very few moments when you’re not having fun. It’s a different kind of football game, yet it’s intuitive, and the allure of improving your skill level is captivating. If Slocap can sand off its rough edges, Rematch could be something special. But even in its current state, saying “no” to one more match is a challenging proposition.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Rematch Developers Answer Some Of The Biggest Questions About The Game

by admin June 23, 2025

Since its release on Thursday, Rematch has pulled in some solid numbers and is picking up steam. With its relatively simple gameplay, Rematch is an enjoyable game to watch and play. play. Of course, with a growing player-base comes questions about what’s next for the game, and the developers found time to address them.

Over on the game’s Steam page, the team behind Rematch went through a laundry list of updates, how they’re working to prevent lag that affects gameplay, and addressed the potential of crossplay down the line. However, they also assured players they’re taking one thing at a time.

“We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who joined us during the Early Access launch and shared valuable feedback,” the statement read. “Seeing players from all over the world enjoying Rematch and expressing their excitement online has been incredibly rewarding.”

The team had initially wanted to implement a crossplay feature, but “unforeseen technical complexities” prevented it from being ready on time. They added that they understand players’ frustration and are going to get it working soon.

“It’s very important for us that our players are able to enjoy Rematch with their friends, so along with bugfixes, crossplay is our absolute highest priority. We’re committed to delivering this feature swiftly, and we’ll share a more precise deadline as soon as possible.”

Here are also issues they’re looking into for the game:

Core gameplay: Simple fixes like improving the sliding tackle, tweaks to goalkeeper mechanics, to the dribbling system and wall contact. All the while taking into account community feedback. The idea would be that as they move forward, test servers will be at work so they can try out new features and improvements in a live environment.
Competitive features: They are currently designing a tournament system with a leaderboard system for players above Elite ranking. There’s also a club creation system in the works that will be aiming to provide more variety for competitive players.
Social components: While crossplay is their top priority, other features are also being worked on such as being able to spectate your squad’s game when you join a squad. This will allow players to team up and rematch with teammates they enjoyed playing with, and more.
Casual play features: Aside from a new quick play game mode and a rotating game mode queue, AI-controlled bots will be used so that players are able to train with and against the computer in both workshops or in dedicated game modes.

“Please remember that we are not a huge team, and that these features take time, so don’t expect all this by the end of the year! We will communicate on a more precise roadmap for upcoming seasons as soon as we have better visibility on when we can deliver on these intentions.”

Rematch is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It is part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate game catalog, but can also be purchased for $30.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Rematch scores big with 1 million players in a day

by admin June 23, 2025

Rematch seems to be a hit. In just a day, Sloclap has seen a million players log in. That’s a massive achievement, and there are still a few features coming like cross-play. Look for Rematch to get bigger and bigger as it continues – the world wants its football.

In just 24 hours since the launch of Sloclap’s (Sifu, Absolver) action footballer Rematch, the game has scored a crushing goal, flying past 1 million unique players across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC: www.playrematch.comRematch aims to capture the core principles of football and to provide a fresh perspective on the beautiful game. From defense to offense, every action counts, every mistake can be punished, every opportunity must be taken and individual skill is necessary, but never sufficient – the only way to prevail is to work with your team, and build great plays together. Just like football, Rematch is all about collective actions – it’s together that we shine the brightest.

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more Rematch news and info!

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Rematch surpasses 1 million players in its first day of full release

by admin June 21, 2025

Sloclap’s 5v5 soccer game Rematch came out strong yesterday, racking up nearly 93,000 concurrent players on Steam alone—impressive by any measure, and particularly so for a Thursday afternoon. Today the studio put an even bigger number on the scoreboard, saying Rematch pulled in a million players in its first day of full release.

“One million unique players in 24 hours,” Sloclap wrote on X. “Seeing so many of you jump into Rematch on day one is incredible.

“The whole team is super grateful! And already hard at work on fixing and improving the game. We are just getting started.”

That isn’t straight-up sales, to be clear: Rematch is available on Game Pass, and a large number of those players could be coming from that direction. Even so, it’s putting up strong numbers on Steam as well: More than 83,000 people are currently playing it there, according to SteamDB, and I would expect that number to climb even higher over the weekend.

(Image credit: Sloclap (Twitter))

Shortly after that message was posted, a small update for Rematch rolled out on Steam aimed at reducing crash issues, improving stability and performance, and fixing a desync problem caused by the ball hitting the goalpost.

In a separate message, however, Sloclap said some players are still having problems, and asked for further feedback, either in a reply on X or, better, via a bug report form.

The patch does not, unfortunately, address Rematch’s absence of crossplay. Sloclap is working on it, but wasn’t able to have it ready in time for release because of “unforeseen technical complexities.”

The studio said yesterday that it has a “basic working version [of crossplay] from a technical standpoint, but we need to implement the relevant interfaces, before debugging and polishing it, and finally passing console certifications successfully.” It said it would share a more detailed timeline for the rollout of Rematch crossplay as soon as possible.

The patch notes from today’s hotfix, taking Rematch to version 1.200.005, are below.

Bugfixes

Fixed an issue where the ball would hit the goalposts and become entirely out of sync for all players.
Ball sync issues might still happen under other circumstances.

Network / Performances

Pushed a fix to reduce the frequency of crashes occurring after scoring a goal on all platforms.
Various fixes for stability issues.
Various netcode improvements.
Updates to matchmaking to further improve queue times.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

How Rematch ranks work: What you need to rank up in each league and division

by admin June 21, 2025

When you launch Rematch for the first time, a little pop-up will warn you that the game is “best experienced with a controller.” After ignoring that to see how it felt with my beloved mouse and keyboard, I’m not sure I agree; while the mouse controls take some getting used to, they may be preferable depending on your comfort level with thumbstick aiming.

A controller gives you more freedom of movement and more intuitive passing

The reasons to use a gamepad for Rematch are the usual ones. With an analog stick, you can easily move around and aim passes in 360 degrees instead of combining mouse movements with WASD’s 8 possible directions, and the button setup is a little more intuitive.

For instance, on a gamepad you can use the buttons to tap, light tap, and push the ball in combination with the right bumper to do lob versions of those same moves. On a keyboard, all of those commands and their lobbed versions are different buttons by default, so it requires a bit more memorization unless you’re willing to tinker with the keybinds yourself.

Passing is also significantly easier if you’re using a thumbstick. When passing in Rematch, you hold down the appropriate button for your setup and have a split second to aim it. On a controller, you’re doing that with the left stick, the same input you move with, and on a keyboard, you’re dragging the mouse in the direction you want to pass while moving with WASD.

On a thumbstick, I feel like I know exactly where the ball is headed; it’s going the exact direction my character is, and any adjustments are easily made with the stick by flicking at the exact angle I want. Movement on the mouse is far twitchier, and there’s currently no option to choose a direction for your pass with WASD; even if you’re strafing left and right, the ball will always head the direction your camera is facing unless you adjust with the mouse.

…But precise shooting is far easier with a mouse

The reason to consider playing Rematch with a keyboard and mouse is down to the shooting.

You shoot by aiming a center-of-camera crosshair at your target and holding down either the right trigger or the left mouse button; as you approach the ball, you have a brief moment to shape your shot. Tricky shots that mislead enemy goalies are essential to scoring, and a mouse is simply far nimbler at swerving the camera to just the right spot.

You might find lining up a shot with the right stick easier if you’ve used a gamepad all your life, but I find it easier to use a mouse for the same reason I do in the vast majority of FPSes or for pitching in Super Mega Baseball. A stick is great for 3D movement, but shooting is just about clean and simple crosshair movement: that thing mouses are built to do.

There are a number of keybind presets that take advantage of extra mouse buttons, so don’t be afraid to bust out the old MMO mouse and fiddle around with the settings. I’ll be sticking with the default mouse and keyboard setup myself, but freeplay has been immensely helpful for tuning my preferred sensitivities and trying different binds.

If you haven’t hit the pitch yet, Rematch is available to buy on Steam.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Rematch review | Rock Paper Shotgun

by admin June 20, 2025

Rematch review

Even to a footy agnostic, this multiplayer sports game offers an exciting and acrobatic contest of skill. Brilliant, for as long as it doesn’t crash.

Developer: Sloclap
Publisher: Sloclap, Kepler Interactive
Release: June 19th, 2025
On: Windows
From: Steam
Price: £21/$30/€25
Reviewed on: Intel Core-i7-11700F, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, Windows 10

I am getting a real kick out of Rematch. As a football game, its closest analogue isn’t FIFA or eFootball, but a certain nitro-boosting sports ’em up that has been going for ten years. I’ve already seen it jokingly described as “Rocket League without cars.” An infuriatingly accurate description that does half my job for me. My list of irritations with it is long. But there is something so compelling about the kick-by-kick play, each match a little drama, that I will gladly scrunch that list of complaints into a ball and toepoke it into a waste paper basket on the other side of the room. GOOOAAALLL!

This is multiplayer football as imagined by Sloclap, the developers of kung fu games Sifu and Absolver. Fans of buttery body movements will be glad to know that the studio’s command of expressive and fluid animation remains intact. These ball experts can really blatter that sports sphere. You control a single player on the field, sprinting up and down and yelling “cross it!” with a tap of a button to ask for a chance to even tap the ball, like some desperate schoolkid at lunch time.

Watch on YouTube

Once got, movement is a good balance of straightforward legging it and working some judicious button combinations when under threat. The game hasn’t over-egged things with move upon move upon move, but pared the beautiful game back to a few select gimmicks that make each rapid encounter with an opponent its own little mind game of direction and speed. This is a skill-based game, but it doesn’t feel difficult to learn the basics of ball control.

You can tackle folks with a simple footpoke at their ankles, or do a more powerful slide tackle at their feet (at the risk of missing and ending up lagging behind in the chase). While in possession, you can avoid tackles by bopping the ball lightly in another direction, dancing around your shin accoster with a defensive dribble, or trickily toe-tapping the ball into the air – a showy rainbow flick that is endlessly embarrassing to be caught out by, yet smugly satisfying to pull off yourself.

It’s best not to overuse the sliding tackle, but when it works – mmmmmm. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / Sloclap

Even though the ball “sticks” to you while dribbling, it still feels like its own entity, drifting away just a touch any time you sprint while in possession, making it more easily claimed by any opposing footyist in range. Doing an about-face which tucks the ball backward under your heels might feel triumphant for only a second, when you realise there’s another player waiting there to nab it. Get close to the goalposts and a firm pull of the right trigger will see you shoot. Hold it down longer to charge up a stronger hoof. To my hands it all feels fluid and smooth, even if an encounter with multiple tacklers can sometimes become a chaotic pile-on of slide tackles and stumbles.

I mostly played quick matches of 3v3. These are casual games with lots of goals and a nippy turnover. If either team gets a four-goal lead they win the game under the “mercy rule”, which prevents matches from turning into steamrolled episodes of despair. Otherwise matches are timed to six minutes. There are also 4v4 and 5v5 quick matches, but I feel like a lot of players will either stick to friendly low-stakes three-a-side, or step into the ranked matches for larger games, where teams of five face off in matchmade bouts across six divisions – bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, and elite.

As in many a multiplayer face-off, you can customise your victory pose. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / Sloclap

Games go a little steadier with the larger headcount, and it feels like you’ll need more co-ordination – or at least a good instinctive rapport – to make any headway. Certainly there are fewer noticeable instances of Ronaldo syndrome. This “ball hog” phenomenon is seemingly driving some players crazy (I saw one complaint on Steam asking for passing to become “mandatory”). The game is replicating the spirit of football so accurately, that it allows for this frustration to develop. When it feels this fun to be in control of the ball and swivel around everyone with grace, it is natural that some people will not want to give up their moment in the spotlight.

Of course, this leads to inevitable loss due to many Dunning-Krugerites who did not seem to get the message of the game’s tutorial prologue. This part-playable, part-cinematic sequence is a story about a scouted player whose showy talent won’t get him as far as he expected without learning to work as a unit with his team mates. It’s a well-told tale, entirely without dialogue, and further proof if it were needed that Sloclap have some very competent and thoughtful animators and storyboarders. If FIFA’s story modes could tell their equivalent tales of tactics and teamwork with as much efficacy and grace as this ten-minute tutorial, they might not have to rely on turning their game into a slot machine.

You can customise both home and away colours for your kit, and slowly unlock new clothes as you gain XP. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / Sloclap

That’s not to say Rematch is free from all the usual live service graft. There are DLC cosmetics (four quid for a pair of trainers, eight quid to play as Ronaldinho) as well as the inevitable season pass, in which you unlock new shorts, shirts, haircuts, and other stuff – a string of pearls with some marked as free and others requiring you buy that “Captain pass” every few months. It’s not too in-your-face, though, and as per common game design wisdom, there’s nothing to alter how speedy you shoot or how quickly your stamina recharges. There are no stats to boost or skills to unlock either, so the playing field remains mercifully level.

Being goalkeeper is my favourite position on said playing field. I’m not so hot when it comes to dribbling around a tacklebastard, but between the posts I can focus on one job. The diving is responsive and covers a lot of air. A good goalkeeper can win the day and lock down the game. I am an OK goalkeeper. All the tricks of real life football come to bully you in the box. The cunning crosses, the unexpected longshots, the nippy flat ones that hug the ground when you don’t expect them to. It is humiliating to fall for another trick, in which an attacker bounces the ball off the magical football forcefield above the posts and then taps it in with the rebound. There is a button to say “Sorry” in Rematch. I find myself using it a lot.

This was a moment of panic, I admit. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / Sloclap

You won’t stay as keeper throughout the match, though. The starting positions rotate with each post-goal kick-off, the game encouraging players to put in some time at all roles on the field. I like this, because no matter my desire to be the bulwark, it pulls you out to take a shot or two in every casual game. Although I’ve seen plenty of netphobes who cannot wait one second in a defensive position. Leaving the goal open is something that you might have to do as a team once in a while, especially during 3v3 matches. But abandoning it every time it’s assigned to you invites vulture-like longshots – a totally valid tactic. No opportunity goes wasted. This is less a criticism of the game and more an observation about how it will inevitably be played, as beginners learn the importance of teamwork, positioning, and not being a selfish asshat.

Most people, I should stress, are not like that. The in-game comms allows for cries of “Thanks” or “We got this”. All good, friendly material, even if the cry of another line – “Good job!” – is already being used sarcastically for every open goal you fluff. Even simpler lines of decent sportsmanship would be nice, like a quick way to say “Good game” to players of both teams when the clock hits zero. I feel like a sulky Suarez at the end of every match when we all walk away without so much as a head nod.

When a team mate shouts “pass” a little blue line will appear to show who’s calling. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / Sloclap

The game boasts no interruptions to play. And, okay yes, there are no fouls, offsides, or throw-ins to stop play dead with an irksome whistle, but there are interruptions in a more mundane crashing-to-desktop-quite-a-lot sense. I have seen hangs, server drops, and weird bugs that froze me on the field as my teammates played around me. As networking and stability goes, this not a flawless game. The devs recently apologised for not including crossplay at launch, and it’s somewhat disappointing to see Sloclap fall victim to technical problems in the same way that fighting game Absolver was affected on its release in 2017.

This is the silent hero of the prologue. He learns not to be a ball hog. Be like him. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / Sloclap

There are other flies in the Deep Heat. The post match screens infuriate me because they automatically change from stats screen to another screen while you’re in the middle of looking at the number of saves or passes you made. There are theoretically useful practice challenges against bots where you try to keep possession or intercept passes, but they’ll sling you out to the main menu after every failure, rather than offering a quick way to restart. Critically, there is no way to remap keybinds or controls, the current extent of available customisations being limited to a choice between three very similar presets. And there’s no way to turn on camera lock (wherein the camera automatically follows the ball) without choosing one of these controller presets and messing up your twitchy memory of the default buttons.

All of these nits irritate me enough to be duly picked, but they all feel obvious and changeable, inevitable to be fixed as more folks complain they can’t rebind the pass button to Numpad 7 or whatever personal keyboard insanity you suffer from. I’m saying that I’ve seen Sloclap fix their broken online game before, and I trust them to do it again.

It’s telling that the missing feature I desire most is not an emote or a graphics setting or a – pffft – “mandatory pass”. But just some way to auto-rematch, so I don’t have to tap Y at the end of every game within a 10-second countdown to re-enter the queue for another game. This is how moreish (and perfectly named) Rematch is. My biggest complaint is that I’m sick of the game asking “Do you want to play again?” Of course I do.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Adding crossplay to Rematch is “our absolute highest priority”, says Sloclap

by admin June 20, 2025

Sloclap launched its football action game Rematch today, but crossplay has not been included due to “unforeseen technical complexities”.

Rematch released across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC (Steam), but players are unable to play with others on rival platforms – at least, not yet.

“We understand many of you were looking forward to playing Rematch across platforms from day one,” said the studio in a launch blog post. “We did our utmost to include crossplay at launch, but Rematch is the studio’s first crossplay title, and we faced unforeseen technical complexities which prevented us from having this feature ready in time. We should have communicated as soon as it became apparent that crossplay wouldn’t be available at launch, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience and frustration it caused to some of our players.”

Rematch | Golden Rules Trailer | Release Date AnnouncementWatch on YouTube

The studio noted it’s “very important for us that our players are able to enjoy Rematch with their friends” and so crossplay is its “absolute highest priority” alongside bug fixes. It’s “committed to delivering this feature swiftly”. A basic working version has already been produced from a technical standpoint, but needs to be debugged and polished before full implementation.

The studio also noted other issues it’s looking to fix, based on feedback from the early access period. These include: performance optimisations to improve stability; preventing server and client desynchronisation; and resolving game-breaking bugs.

Beyond these issues, the studio will be working on broader updates with new content like tournament and leaderboard systems, social features like spectating and (ironically) easier rematches, as well as more casual game modes such as quick play and implementing AI bots to train against.

Sloclap will also tweak the core gameplay, with improvements to the sliding tackle, goalkeeper mechanics, the dribbling system, and wall contacts, among others. “Our general objective is to keep adding depth and granularity to our mechanics, to make the game as interesting as possible in a competitive environment,” the studio said.

“Please remember that we are not a huge team, and that these features take time, so don’t expect all this by the end of the year!” Sloclap concluded. “We will communicate on a more precise roadmap for upcoming seasons as soon as we have better visibility on when we can deliver on these intentions.”

The studio added: “We’re dedicated to making Rematch the outstanding multiplayer football experience you deserve, and we’re committed to communicating regularly and transparently with our community to keep you updated on our progress. Thanks to all players who joined us already for your incredible enthusiasm and support, this is really what motivates us to make this game as great as it can be!”

Eurogamer’s Tom Orry has been playing Rematch and likened it to being transported back to the school playground, stating “the same blinkered overconfidence of school days is here to see in Rematch”.

Rematch has also been added to Xbox Game Pass, for those with a subscription.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments