Sloclap, the developer of Absolver and Sifu, unveiled its new project tonight at The Game Awards, and it's a step in a very unexpected direction. Rematch is a futuristic multiplayer soccer game that aims to "capture the essence of football and condense it in short, fast-paced 5v5 matches."
"You are always in full mastery of your character, and that feels really great," Sloclap said during a pre-Game Awards preview presentation. "Even when you don't have the ball, in 5v5 you are always engaged. You cannot drop the pad for even half a second because you'll always have to reposition yourself to serve the action and be where you should be."
Sloclap is aiming to capture the spirit of real-world soccer (although they call it football, as is the European way), but Rematch obviously isn't a true-to-life soccer sim. The 5v5 structure is one obvious giveaway, and there are no [[link]] fouls or offsides, meaning no breaks in the action. There are also no bots: The game is "built entirely for online multiplayer," where skill (or a lack thereof) is the deciding factor.
"Fundamentally, Rematch is about the joy of playing football with friends, of being together in a team," the studio said. "It’s about putting your team first, and how it can be more satisfying to serve the [[link]] perfect assist than to actually score oneself."
Visually, Rematch immediately reminds me of Rocket League, an action-focused multiplayer sort-of-soccer game with a well-established player base. But more broadly I think of faux-sports multiplayer games like Rocket Arena, Knockout City, and Rumbleverse, and all the various non-sports live service games that have tried and failed to find space in a very crowded market. And while Rematch takes a different approach to soccer, you also can't discount EA Sports FC, the former FIFA monster, which remains a dominant presence.
Still, there are a lot of soccer fans out there, and this is a different take on the game than most of what's currently out there, so maybe Slocap is onto something. We'll find out next year: Rematch is set to launch in summer 2025 with a competitive 5v5 mode and quickplay options, and will be supported after release with seasonal content including new game modes and cosmetics.