For the world’s most popular sport, it’s legitimately surprising to realize how few football/soccer games there are out there. And it’s fair to say that Rematch has made clear that there’s a hunger for new approaches to the beautiful game.

Since release (including launching day one with Game Pass), Sloclap’s wonderfully physical take on the game has passed 3 million Xbox players. Not only that, but Rematch broke an Xbox record before it even came out – its Xbox Insider beta saw every available slot filled faster than any game before it.

For those who haven’t played yet, Rematch is a small-scale team game, pitting groups of 3, 4 or 5 players against one another in frenetic six-minute matches. The basic rules of the real-life sport apply, but it draws just as much on Sloclap’s history with action games (following their work on Absolver and Sifu). You only ever control a single player, with huge attention paid to the acts of passing, shooting, dribbling, tackling, and goalkeeping, each of which requires you to learn how its respective system works, and the tricks you can use to get around the other team.

In motion, it’s fast, deeply tactical, and feels quite unlike any other game featuring the sport – and the rewards for mastering its nuances are incredibly gratifying. When you work in the fact that each pitch has walls that can be used for rebounds or trick dribbles, and systems can collide and coalesce in a single, flowing move, it only gets more interesting. My Xbox capture library is now awash with replays of my team’s best moments (and most hilarious mistakes) – and that shareability is a huge part of why Rematch is capturing an audience. It doesn’t just feel good, it looks good.

The take-up has been phenomenal as a result. “We were honestly blown away by the response,” Creative Director Pierre Tarno tells me. “Seeing over three million players jump into Rematch within a week from launch was both exciting and humbling. It confirmed for us that there’s a real appetite for this kind of team-based, fast-paced football experience.

A big launch was crucial to the team, and Game Pass became a major part of that goal. “Rematch is, at its heart, a social experience,” Tarno continues. “It’s about playing with friends, sharing great plays, and having fun together. So reaching a broad audience early meant we could create the right environment for that to happen. Game Pass helped us a lot here as it gave players instant access, which is exactly what we needed to build momentum and community from day one.”

Building from a Base

And truly, building that momentum is the key here – starting strong with the basics means that Sloclap can now focus on what’s next. “[The great response] reinforced something we’ve believed from the start: launching is just the beginning. The size of the community gives us even more motivation to keep improving, expanding, and listening because ultimately, it’s the players who will shape where Rematch goes from here.”

Of course, a huge playerbase can be a double-edged sword: “With so many players, things emerge that you can’t always catch internally, no matter how much you test,” explains Tarno. “The scale of the launch meant we saw edge cases, unexpected behaviors, and creative strategies very quickly. We’re lucky to have a team that can react fast! We’ve been rolling out fixes and improvements constantly, and we’ll keep doing so. That’s the nature of a live game: it’s about learning, adapting, and growing alongside the community.”

Since launch, Rematch has already received multiple hotfixes, addressing everything from game stability to an unexpected exploit that let players, well, start flying. That work, in building a stable foundation to build on, will continue:

“Right now, our top priority is making the game feel really solid and reliable. That means squashing remaining bugs and improving online replication. Things like desyncs or frame drops should be things of the past and we’re pushing hotfixes and patches to make that happen.

“We’re focused on fixing what matters most first, then layering in new content, modes, and depth over time. And we’ll keep you updated as soon as we have clearer dates for these updates.”

Seasons Change

But part of what makes Rematch particularly interesting right now is a philosophical decision from the developers. Turn on the game today and you’ll find “Season 0” emblazoned across the menus – it’s a purposeful choice of words, meant to communicate that what you’re playing now is the most basic version of the game. If you’re as obsessed with playing Rematch as I am right now, that’s a very enticing prospect.

“We wanted to make it clear that this is just the beginning”, explains Tarno. “We already have a lot of ideas for new modes, features, cosmetics, and gameplay updates. The goal is for Rematch to evolve over time, shaped both by our own vision and by player feedback. Season 0 is the first step on what we hope will be a long journey.”

So where does the game go from here? Tarno tells me that cross-play across all platforms is the “absolute priority”, bringing its millions of players into one group. “We know how much it matters,” he continues, “and we’ll share a timeline soon. Beyond that, we’re adding features like squad spectating, seamless squad re‑joining, and better ways to keep playing with teammates you click with.”

There’s more beyond that. Tarno explains that core gameplay tweaks are being fine-tuned, competitive features are being worked on (including a tournament system, leaderboards, and club creation tools), and casual and creative modes are coming (including quick-play, rotating mode queues, and AI controlled bots).

But the real beauty of Season 0 is that it only represents a piece of what this game might become. Like other live games before it, Rematch could offer entirely different ways to play in future in the form of new modes or experimental game types. “We want to introduce new temporary game modes in the future, some of which may become permanent by popular demand,” says Tarno. “We’re looking at different types of game modes, some more ‘arcade’, some more ‘realistic’, and we’ve already started prototyping ideas for the next game mode!”

Rematch already feels different to many of its peers – so the idea that it could add to that feeling is incredibly exciting. Seeing a studio embrace a tough-to-crack genre, offer something truly new, and see this level of success is inspiring:

“We love football, we love third-person action games, and we wanted to bring something fresh to both worlds,” enthuses Tarno. “We weren’t looking to compete with traditional football sims. We wanted to offer something different, something fast, immersive, and focused on teamplay.

“We knew it was a risk, but as an independent studio, we have the freedom to take creative leaps like this. And we’re glad we did.”

REMATCH

Sloclap, Kepler Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆
277

★★★★★

$29.99

$26.99

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON FOOTBALL
Third Person Action – Tackle, dribble, aim, and shoot; dive into the heart of the action from an immersive viewpoint.
One Player Control – Observe the action, position yourself, execute perfectly: every decision matters, and relying on your teammates is essential to prevail.
Skill-based Gameplay – In a level playing field, with no player stats, victory is only about player skill and tactical coordination.

INTENSE ACTION & DEEP TACTICS
Credible Football, with an arcade twist – Feel like an amazing athlete, easily performing all the iconic moves of football.
Non-stop Action – No fouls, no offsides, no pauses… no time to rest.
Accessible mechanics with a lot of depth – Just like real football, winning requires both accuracy, fast reactions as well as flawless team collaboration.

AN ONLINE TEAM-BASED EXPERIENCE
Team-based online gameplay – Designed from the ground up as an online multiplayer experience, Rematch offers split-second gameplay response that always feels fair.
Competitive Modes – Challenge yourself and your mates to reach the top leagues.
Seasonal content – There’s always something new around the corner. Every season will feature new game modes and add more cosmetic content.