Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? 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 Baldur's Gate 3 Doom: The Dark Ages Marvel Rivals Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Tyler Wilde 18 April 2025 The soccer game from Sifu developer Sloclap might be a winner. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Sloclap) I've seen lots of attempts to recreate the success of Rocket League over the past decade, but none have come close. Rematch might finally, actually do it. The multiplayer soccer game ('Rocket League but with feet,' as I'm calling it here) is having an open beta on Steam this weekend, and has already surpassed 100,000 concurrent players. Attracting lots of players during a free beta doesn't necessarily mean that Rematch will sell a bazillion copies when it releases this summer—it'll cost $30—but it also isn't meaningless. Concord had a free beta on Steam before it launched, too, and not very many people played it. That was when I knew that the doomed FPS was really in trouble. Conversely, today's success suggests that Rematch could do very well. You may like Rematch blew away my expectations—trailers don't do Sloclap's 5v5 football game justice Soccer fans should be paying attention to Rematch, the 5v5 game coming this summer from the developer of martial arts hit Sifu The idea of Rematch is simple: 5v5 soccer, and each human player controls one player on the field. There are no rocket powered battle cars, but it gets compared to Rocket League because it's distinct from other sports games in the same way. It's not about controlling all the players on the field, but about controlling one player and working directly with your teammates. In terms developer Sloclap used when we visited the French studio for a preview recently: FIFA is a football simulation, while Rematch is a football player simulation. Where Remtach differs most from Rocket League is in the controls. Rocket League is fundamentally a physics game—you are manually bouncing the ball around by driving and flying into it—whereas Rematch has more traditional sports game controls. That makes it a little less appealing to me (there's nothing like executing an aerial Rocket League goal), but clearly there's room for a grounded, not-rocket-powered version of the idea. 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. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, so I'm really not sure why there aren't two dozen games like this, or just more soccer games in general. (Yeah, yeah, football games if you live anywhere else in the world.) Rematch is a new direction for Sloclap: The studio previously made Absolver, a multiplayer martial arts game that was popular but should've been more popular, and the successful singleplayer kung-fu game Sifu. It looks like the transition from fighting to sports has been graceful. Regarding the $30 price tag, Rematch creative director Pierre Tarno told PC Gamer that he never even considered going free-to-play. "One of the things I love about making games is that there is no secret formula or anything, but the best way—or maybe actually the only way—to make a commercial success is to just make a very good game," Tarno said. If you want to try out Rematch this weekend, you can request access to the beta by hitting the button on the Steam page. It took a few minutes, but we were all granted access—and clearly over 100,000 others were—so it doesn't seem like there's a limit. The full Rematch launch is coming June 19. Tyler Wilde Social Links Navigation Editor-in-Chief, US Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League. 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. Rematch blew away my expectations—trailers don't do Sloclap's 5v5 football game justice Soccer fans should be paying attention to Rematch, the 5v5 game coming this summer from the developer of martial arts hit Sifu Rematch, the soccer game from the maker of Sifu and Absolver, is holding an open beta this weekend 'Just make a very good game': Sloclap dismisses the idea that online games need to be free-to-play Silent Hill gets a soccer league in FEAR FA 98, and you can play the demo now The latest big game on Steam is Fragpunk, or as I like to call it, 'kitchen-sink Counter-Strike' Latest in Sports Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Rematch, the soccer game from the maker of Sifu and Absolver, is holding an open beta this weekend 'Just make a very good game': Sloclap dismisses the idea that online games need to be free-to-play Rematch blew away my expectations—trailers don't do Sloclap's 5v5 football game justice Soccer fans should be paying attention to Rematch, the 5v5 game coming this summer from the developer of martial arts hit Sifu My favourite, most underrated anime golf game series is actually getting a PC entry for the first time in its nearly 30-year history Latest in News Rematch passes 100K Steam concurrents in open beta as 'Rocket League but with feet' turns out to be a winning idea Marvel Rivals players annoyed and confused by 'misleading' $25 Doctor Strange skin that's missing the coolest part when worn in-game It looks like Tempest Rising accidentally launched early on Steam for everyone, despite withholding advanced access as a Deluxe Edition pre-order bonus The new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally shows us stretchy Pedro Pascal (but only for about two seconds) Capcom says it has 'already taken and will continue to take action' to ban Monster Hunter Wilds cheaters as it begins a '1-to-2 week review' of the challenge quest leaderboard The new trailer for Remedy's co-op FPS features explosive pink goop and flying desk chairs, so it's still looking like the silliest thing they've made HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS 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 Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested MSI RTX 5060 Ti 16G Gaming Trio OC review Tempopo review Tempest Rising review Corsair Void Wireless V2 review Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB review (Palit Infinity 3) PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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