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Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Amazon Prime Day Deals Essential Hardware PC Gaming Show Recommended reading Sloclap shoots, then scores as Rematch hits 3 million players, proving there's a surprising overlap between sports and fighting game fans Rematch devs talk balls—specifically, how to balance the ball's feel with function: 'It's the basic brick of the game, it's like an atomic component' Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Ball hogs and 'wannabe Messis' are already the heels of the Rematch community: 'Coach should run out onto the field and beat them with a stick' Rematch's developers expected players to develop new tech fast, but 'not nearly as fast as it is going right now' Rematch review: A bar-setting football game Rematch surpasses 1 million players in its first day of full release Rematch developers didn't 'get' the game, Sloclap boss says, until they started playing internal tournaments: 'I don't give a s**t about football, but this really struck something in me' Andy Chalk 11 July 2025 It turns out that a lot of Rematch developers, and a big chunk of players, aren't soccer fans. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Sloclap) The multiplayer soccer game Rematch was a surprise departure for developer Sloclap, previously best known for the martial arts actioners Absolver and Sifu. But it turned out to be really good, and a genuine hit to boot: Currently there are 37,000 people playing Rematch on Steam alone. What's also a little surprising, Sloclap CEO Pierre Tarno said in an interview with Eurogamer, is that it's not necessarily die-hard soccer fans who are driving those numbers. "We see via data, currently the core audience of Rematch lean towards those who play online competitive games rather than those who are fans of football," Tarno told the site, using the preferred European term for the game. That soccer-indifference extends to Rematch developers too. "Loads of people in the team don't really care about football at all," Tarno said. "But quite early on in the project, teammates who weren't super convinced by it—when we ran internal tournaments—told me, 'I get it now. I don't give a shit about football, but this really struck something in me.' The dynamics, the team play, I think those are what make it interesting for players even if they don't like or play football games." Related Articles Sloclap shoots, then scores as Rematch hits 3 million players, proving there's a surprising overlap between sports and fighting game fans Rematch devs talk balls—specifically, how to balance the ball's feel with function: 'It's the basic brick of the game, it's like an atomic component' Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Best gaming rigs 2025Our current recommendations 👉Check out our list of guides👈 1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16 2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L 3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed. 4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT 5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3 That actually makes sense to me. The first time I saw Rematch, in a pre-announcement preview, I thought it looked like Rocket League without the cars, and putting it politely, had doubts about whether it would resonate with soccer fans. Rematch certainly doesn't aim to perfectly recreate soccer, though, but rather to capture the feeling of soccer—teamwork, coordination, strategy, flopping—in a fast, free-flowing environment. There's enough of a soccer sheen to make it immediately attractive to fans of the sport, but it's also sufficiently videogame to be accessible to a wider audience. Tarno does expect more sports-first fans will find their way to Rematch but said it will take time for that to happen because "the main portion of our untapped audience are players who are not as savvy about games," and so are behind the curve compared to core gamers. "They play FIFA, but they don't read Eurogamer," Tarno said. "Maybe they play FIFA and Call of Duty! But they're just waiting for their annual release. To reach them it's about word of mouth, continuing to communicate, and keep rolling out updates." The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. For now, though, it's core videogamers leading the way. That's working out very well for Sloclap so far, but it's not entirely without headaches: Some gamers, it seems, are still struggling with the concept of team sports. Best PC build 2025Our current recommendations 👉Check out our list of guides👈 1. Best CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 2. Best motherboard: MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi 3. Best RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB DDR5-7200 4. Best SSD: WD_Black SN7100 5. Best graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 9070 Social Links Navigation US News Lead Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Sloclap shoots, then scores as Rematch hits 3 million players, proving there's a surprising overlap between sports and fighting game fans Rematch devs talk balls—specifically, how to balance the ball's feel with function: 'It's the basic brick of the game, it's like an atomic component' Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Ball hogs and 'wannabe Messis' are already the heels of the Rematch community: 'Coach should run out onto the field and beat them with a stick' Rematch's developers expected players to develop new tech fast, but 'not nearly as fast as it is going right now' Rematch review: A bar-setting football game Latest in Sports Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4: All game mods explained I would've loved Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 a lot more if it hadn't made the mistake of rolling out time limits for every level How to unlock every Secret Skater in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 Rematch players are still crashing out over 'self-absorbed' ball hogs, and while I do get it, I can't help but wonder if some zen is in order Rematch plans to add an in-game report system, punish own-goal griefers with 3 days in the slammer, and slap cheaters with indefinite bans Rematch's developers expected players to develop new tech fast, but 'not nearly as fast as it is going right now' Latest in News Gear is optional: Diablo 4 player strips their character naked and slides through its most brutal dungeon without a single death An ambitious upcoming Eurojank RPG is holding a closed playtest on Steam and it's probably worth your time if you're into that sort of thing Microsoft shareholders demand report into the company's 'human rights due diligence' over allegations of war crime complicity in Gaza Final Fantasy producer Yoshi-P says 'there's no clear-cut answer' to whether Final Fantasy will return to turn-based RPGs, because the direction of the next Final Fantasy will be up to the directors of the next Final Fantasy BioShock maestro Ken Levine says Judas is 'very old school' because 'you buy the game and you get the whole thing… no online component, no live service' Capcom celebrates the first anniversary of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess by ripping out its Denuvo DRM HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop Mycopunk review Persona 5: The Phantom X review NZXT N7 Z890 review NZXT N9 X870E review NZXT N9 Z890 review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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