Sloclap’s Rematch has emerged as a delightful surprise, cleverly blending the acrobatic flair and precise targeting from their martial-arts titles like Absolver and Sifu into a unique cooperative third-person soccer ‘shooter.’ While the game is currently deep into its first live-service season, which brought a host of bug fixes and the much-demanded Ranked 3v3 mode, one highly anticipated feature remains missing. Since its launch, players have consistently requested a ‘rematch’ button, allowing teams to seek immediate revenge against rivals. Although this feature won’t arrive this season (and might not even be guaranteed), Sloclap is fully aware of the community’s desire and is actively working towards it.
Pierre Tarno, Rematch’s creative director, shared insights: “While I can’t definitively commit, a rematch button was initially targeted for Season 2 and is now more likely a Season 3 addition.” He emphasized that their immediate focus is on a “team up” button. “I want players to easily connect with cool teammates they enjoyed playing with, without any ‘Blue Lock fan roleplaying as a Neo Egoist.’ Our priority is enabling players to form groups and continue playing together.”
The development team is also dedicated to refining the moment-to-moment gameplay. Tarno highlighted the delicate balance required for tweaking Rematch’s mechanics, noting that every single alteration is immediately apparent to all players—a unique challenge not typically found in most live-service titles.
Tarno drew a comparison to games like Overwatch 2 or Apex Legends, where individual interactions often go unnoticed by the wider player base. In those titles, an unfair firefight might feel private. Their expansive maps, numerous walls, and confined spaces inherently segment each match into isolated interactions. In stark contrast, Rematch operates on an open, flat field where every action taken by one player is visible to all others, making even minor mechanical adjustments immediately obvious and impactful.
Tarno elaborated on the challenge: “If your tackle appears to connect but doesn’t, and you’re convinced it should have, every other player sees that too. This sets an incredibly high standard for our execution.”
This visibility is partly why Season 1 has avoided radical mechanical overhauls. However, Sloclap plans more significant changes as they continue to understand player desires and feedback.
“Certainly, we value player habits and what they’ve grown accustomed to,” Tarno stated, “but if a strong evolution is necessary, we won’t hesitate. For instance, ‘volley contacts’ are slated for around March. This system will dictate what happens when two players attempt a volley on the same ball simultaneously.”
In Rematch, a “volley action” refers to a player’s move when the ball is airborne and within striking distance, encompassing everything from headers and back-heel passes to the game’s spectacular acrobatic kicks. These actions are fundamental, yet currently, there’s no clear system determining priority when multiple players attempt a volley simultaneously.
Tarno explained that “Patch 5, now available, refines the volley action system by prioritizing the player closest to the ball’s trajectory. While this is a crucial step and will likely enhance fairness, it might also inadvertently amplify what high-level players refer to as the ‘missile meta’—a primary strategy of long crosses into the penalty area, hoping an attacker wins ball priority for a shot on goal.”
To prevent the “missile meta” from dominating gameplay and to foster diverse strategies, Sloclap plans further iterations on the volley system in upcoming patches. These updates will assign priority based on specific actions and player positioning, moving beyond simply who is closest to the ball. This concept isn’t entirely new to Rematch; goalkeepers already have supreme priority, capable of intercepting the ball regardless of speed or angle with correct positioning.
Post-Patch 5, Rematch has one more significant update planned for Season 1: an entirely new game mode. Tarno explained, “While Ranked 5v5 and 3v3 are our most popular modes, highly engaged players crave a ‘palette cleansing’ – something to refresh their experience and offer a new approach to the game. This new mode will present distinct challenges.”
He elaborated: “I believe this will be a welcome addition. It will play with the fundamental aspects of the game – character manipulation and ball interaction. Without giving too much away, the new mode’s core vision is to reinforce team play and strategic passing. Our hope is that it will sharpen players’ passing accuracy and situational awareness, encouraging them to think more about their teammates’ positions, ultimately translating to more collaborative gameplay in the main modes.”
Once the new mode launches, Sloclap will shift its full attention to Season 2 and all planned additions for 2026. Many upcoming changes draw inspiration from Rocket League, a game frequently compared to Rematch.
“We’ve already begun designing new callouts,” Tarno revealed. “Voice recording will take time, so they’re likely a Season 2 feature, but we’re aiming for a communication system akin to Rocket League’s.”
Rematch currently offers a limited selection of four callouts: Good Job, We Got This, Sorry, and Thank You. In contrast, Rocket League provides dozens of options, allowing players to customize up to 16 at a time, facilitating much richer in-game communication. As a long-time player, I’ve always wished Rematch would adopt Rocket League’s comprehensive system, even if just for a simple “Nice Pass” option for well-executed plays. The existing “Good Job” is universally understood (and used by Sloclap’s own team!) as a sarcastic jab at mistakes, not genuine praise.
Tarno acknowledged this, suggesting, “We’ll likely introduce negative callouts, such as ‘You Should Have Passed.’ Otherwise, players will continue to twist positive options into passive-aggressive criticisms.”
Mirroring Rocket League, Rematch plans to introduce leaver penalties and a match forfeit option. Tarno anticipates this rolling out in multiple patches: “The initial update, coming soon, will implement a leaver penalty that temporarily restricts matchmaking for players who abandon a match. This aims to deter early exits, especially in situations where a comeback is still entirely possible. Later, we’ll likely add a forfeit option, similar to Rocket League, allowing teams to collectively concede a clearly lost match.”
Rematch is currently available across Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms.