"Players are very precise and very demanding": Rematch "was a very strong learning curve" for the Sifu devs, but Sloclap is still working to find the back of the net

Rematch was an unexpected success. Not in the sense that its positive reception came as a surprise, but in the sense of its very existence. After two releases focused firmly on martial arts, for the devs behind Sifu to be pivoting to a football game came as a shock to many. But while Sloclap racked up 5 million players in its first month, Rematch's first year has not proved to be an open goal.

"It's gone pretty well, but it was a very strong learning curve," Sloclap CEO Pierre Tarno tells me when I ask him about the last six months. Beyond the single-player PvP of debut title Absolver, he points out that Rematch was the studio's first foray into "actually operating a live-service game." Nothing Sloclap had done before had "the complexities of a team-based game" like Rematch, and that quickly caused problems for the devs, even as the game rocketed towards the back of the net.

Own goal

"We faced some issues, honestly, during these first months," Tarno explains. Sloclap's patching process, he reveals, struggled to keep up with the complexity of Rematch's player physics.

Even a subtle change could have side effects on something as important as player movement, which can be devastating in a game where "every interaction can be critical." Getting that wrong has not always brought the best out of the game's community.

"I think players are very precise and very demanding, and very quick to point out issues," Tarno says. "And so we still have – because the game can still be improved – players who are angry, who point out these issues vigorously." The nature of this feedback has clearly taken its toll. While we're here to discuss a game that was ostensibly a huge success, its creative director is clearly focused on the minutiae that underpins the entire show. At one point, our discussion turns to a detail as intricate as a six-inch tweak to volley height, and the impact that can have on the competitive scene.

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As we talk, it becomes increasingly clear that the Rematch learning curve was steeper than Tarno and Sloclap expected. And when I ask Tarno if there were any aspects of that learning curve the team didn't expect to have to contend with, his answer is immediate: Crossplay. Multi-platform matchmaking was on the Rematch roadmap right up until launch, but Sloclap had known for months that getting it in place on time would be hard work.

Eventually, the decision was made that launching without crossplay would be OK, but Tarno says "we underestimated how much players expect it as a basic standard of online multiplayer." Eventually, it would take more than two months for cross-platform play to make it to the game, "which is an eternity for gamers, and we were criticized for that."

Liquid football

"We never really intended for this to be a game that would remain present for the long run," Tarno admits, which is possibly why some of these patching issues are having such an impact on the studio.

Rematch's original post-launch roadmap is set to run for 12-to-18 months, but it's already "very different" to what it was at launch. As top-level metas solidify and and less-skilled players up their game at the other end, "there are things that we were planning to do that we've deprioritized, and there are things that now, after a few months, have become clear that they are an important evolution to bring to the game."

The difficulties that Sloclap has faced with Rematch are not ones that are simple to address, but Tarno isn't hiding behind the team's relative inexperience with games like this. "I was going to say it's hard to balance competitive team-based games," he says, catching himself, "but I think we knew that."

Pivoting "to a live-management mindset" might have proved to be "a significant effort," but it seems real difficulty still lies in ensuring that once the studio has reached the end of its planned 18 months, what's left is "the most interesting version" of Rematch they could make. "We want to make this the best possible game," Tarno says, confident that "over the weeks and months to come, [players] will see that the game is just better and better."

Audiences can be fickle, and far bigger, more-experienced studios than Sloclap scored the own-goal of an ill-conceived live-service push. But what's interesting about this team's approach is that the final phase of Rematch isn't a forever game that pulls in millions of players year after year. Instead, it looks like Sloclap is creating something totemic, able to stand out as something new, even if it's only for a relatively short time.

Our list of the best games of 2025 celebrates what a fantastic year it's been for video games of all shapes and sizes. See where Rematch ranks!