Paris-based developer Sloclap is perhaps best known for developing in-depth combat systems, as evidenced by their two released titles so far: 2017’s Absolver and 2022’s Sifu. As such, at least at first glance, it was surprising to see this studio announce REMATCH — “an online multiplayer football experience”. This being said, after playing about 10 hours of the beta test that went live last weekend, April 12-13th, it is clear to me that REMATCH is a Sloclap game through and through, and it is all the better for it.
For those of you familiar with my reviews, you would probably have guessed that I love football (soccer, eh?) and football games, which is why it’s personally upsetting to see the decline of both FIFA / EAFC and Winning Eleven / PES / eFootball in the last decade or so. Football Manager, too, my favourite of the lot, has had a difficult time recently, especially since Sports Interactive and SEGA have, after two already significant delays, canned the 2024-2025 season’s release entirely, citing issues in delivering what they hope to be “the biggest technical and visual advancement in the series for a generation”.
In any case, this is all to say that, considering the state of traditional football video games and that something more unorthodox, such as Rocket League, is approaching 10 years on the market (!), the goal is open for something like REMATCH to score big.
I bring up Rocket League, since, from the get-go, Sloclap has defined exactly what REMATCH is: a skill-based (no stats whatsoever), nonstop (no fouls, no offsides and no video assistant referee), 5v5 or 4v4, competitive experience in which you control only one player. In a nutshell, the team describes their game as being “credible football with an arcade twist”, which, of course, prompted internet users to dub REMATCH as “Rocket League with people”.
Ironic considering that, for the longest time, Rocket League itself has been described as “football with cars”. However, whereas the comparison is apt, at least to a certain extent, Sloclap’s game reminds me more of something like Blue Lock or Galactik Football – definitely football, but with some supernatural feats of athleticism on top.
“REMATCH is a Sloclap game through and through, and it is all the better for it.”
This is reflected in the mechanics of REMATCH, as well, as the characters are able to score dizzying bicycle kicks and run the full length of the (truncated) pitch a few times over. Doing this feels really good to boot, with Sloclap’s experience with martial arts translating exceptionally well here. I also appreciate the fact that the mechanics are easy to understand and accessible, yet offer a lot of depth.
For example, kicking the ball is done at the press of a button, but kicking the ball well is definitely a matter of finesse. I had an incredible time figuring out how to best swerve my shots to get past some of the better goalkeepers which, by the way, turned out to be a very satisfying position to play as. Photos don’t quite do things justice, so I implore you to watch some gameplay footage and see for yourself.
Nevertheless, despite having an all-in-all incredible time with REMATCH so far, I do have a laundry list of things that did and could continue to go wrong: from latency to the skill system, there are numerous things that could deter players from now until launch. From what I’ve seen from public opinion, a lot of the negative conversation is surrounding the game’s price point: 29.99 USD for the Standard Edition, 39.99 USD for the Pro Edition (which also includes 72 hour Early Access) and 49.99 USD for the Elite Edition (early access plus some added extras).
To me, what I’ve played so far is definitely worth the price of admission, but I’m not sure that REMATCH will soar in popularity as fast as Rocket League did. For what it’s worth, though, REMATCH is coming to Game Pass, which will no doubt help it amass a significant number of day-one players. From there on, only time will tell if the seasonal game modes and purchasable content planned will have them return time and time again.
In the meantime, ahead of REMATCH’s release in June, the best thing I can say about the game now is that I wish I were still playing it, even days after the beta period closed. I’m convinced that it has the potential to be one of the best football games around, so, yes, I’ll be itching for a rematch until it finally launches.
REMATCH launches on PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series on June 19, 2025, with an open beta running this weekend, April 18th and 19th.
